Alpha and Omega - Jackal's Story
by Sprogster85
Summary: In collaboration with Subzero Dragon. Takes place after the events of God Eater Resurrection. Join Jackal and Robin as new events unfold including a strange infection that only targets God Eaters as well as a new type of Aragami.
1. Chapter 1

Alpha and Omega - Jackal's Story

Chapter 1 - Prologue

In collaboration with Subzero Dragon. Visit their profile to see the other side of this story.

Located deep into the forest is a meadow which houses a well camouflaged facility known as "The Valley". If you didn't know what you were looking for, it would be very hard to spot as it is covered in camouflaged netting and tactical paint. About 10 minutes away from the facility is an individual battling an Ogretail with relative ease. Maintaining a relatively safe distance, the individual swings his God Arc and inflicts minor damage to the Aragami. It only takes a few more swings with his Scythe before killing it, allowing for him to devour it to harvest its materials. This individual is an 18 year old boy with brown eyes and and dark, wild hair. He may have originated in America but there was no definite way of knowing. The boy himself had forgotten everything about his past and the only thing that he could remember was that the name "Jackal" meant something to him. One day he had stumbled across the facility and ever since then has been a part of it. That day was approximately two months ago and since then Jackal has had numerous check-ups to see if his amnesia will ever be cured. Unfortunately, Jackal has not remembered a single thing about his past during the time that he has been at The Valley...

"Just as I thought; that was too easy." I say as I look around to see if are anymore Aragami nearby. Unfortunately, there were none.

"Really?! Oh, man. I only need four more Ogre fangs before I can upgrade my God Arc." I speak aloud with a depressed voice before walking back to the Valley.

After walking back to the Valley, I comes across another individual. Or rather, the individual comes across me. I know who it is immediately. The person in question looks to be about 20 years older than me. He has green eyes as well as short, untamed red hair with a beard that trailed to his upper chest. A stern expression marred the man's face. It was one of the expressions that I had grown accustom to over the years he had been here. In fact, I began thinking to myself of the time when I first saw the man. I had been scared stiff at the time. There had to be a height difference of two feet at the time; me being four-foot eight and the other man being six-foot eight. Now though, the height difference had decreased but not by much though. I had grown to be five-foot five and thus closing the difference by seven inches. This man is named Viper and he has the role of Commander.

"Jackal! Where the hell have you been, boy?!" Commander Viper shouts in anger.

"I was just..."

"Where are your manners?! You know you can't talk to someone like that!" Viper's anger grows to the point where it could rival the larger types of Aragami once they realise that they are being targeted by God Eaters.

"Sir!" I take a military stance and raise my right hand to salute the Commander.

"I was eradicating an Ogretail, Sir!" The commander gives a sigh in response, his anger momentarily deflating.

"Can I assume that Miss Kimura was with you?" Viper asks, expecting me to confirm the whereabouts of another trainee God Eater but in all honesty, I had no idea where she was.

"No sir!" My response slightly surprises the Commander but it also highly annoys him.

"What do you mean, 'no'? Where the hell is she?!" Commander Viper shouted with an annoyed expression on his face. The girl in question always had a tendency to wander off.

"No idea, sir." I respond easing myself out of the soldier stance. I, too, began to grow annoyed although it was probably because the Commander was shouting at me for not paying attention to Robin's whereabouts. I began thinking about how often this scenario had played out. I had always been blamed for not paying attention to the whereabouts of the girl and Commander Viper was always the one blaming me.

"You never learn do you?! Go and find her! Quickly now!" Viper commanded and I began heading off to the place that I had found her the previous times that she had wandered off, making sure to grab my God Arc since the world is still a dangerous place. Continuing my walk through the forest for a few minutes before coming across another clearing. I knew that Viper was trailing me at quite some distance but didn't pay any attention to him. He doesn't know the meaning of the word stealth. Looking around, I noticed some unusual shadows. One of which appeared to take the form of a God Arc whilst the other shadow appeared to be a tree with an unusual human-like growth coming from it. Walking at an angle towards it, I noticed that the the human-like growth was in fact a human, or more specifically a human girl. Disregarding the chirps of unseen birds nearby, I stopped a sort distance away from the girl as I spotted a sketchbook on her knees. After seeing this, there was no doubt in my mind that the girl was Robin.

"I'm surprised you can even concentrate with all of them petals falling onto your book." I whispers to myself as I sees Robin brushing off a few of the petals from her book, failing to notice that she still has numerous petals on her long, green hair that had been tied into a pony tail which hangs at her waist.

"Hey, Robin! Commander Viper is looking for you! You don't want to get yelled at again, do you?" I shout to gain the girl's attention. Now that I think about it, it is almost second nature for me to call her by her codename of Robin and I rarely use her real name of Reiko Kimura. The girl turned towards me with a slightly surprised look on her face with her blue eyes looking directly into my green eyes. I could have sworn I had seen a cat in her place rather than a human.

"C'mon, Robin." I begin with a slightly annoyed expression on my face as Robin keeps staring at me, "Don't ignore me. If I don't bring you back, Commander Viper will tan my hide again. Now get up and come back with me already." The girl continues to stare at me and I begin to suspect that she is deliberately trying to get a response out of me.

"Robin!" I shout as I sees no obvious movements to suggest that she will comply. The girl jumps slightly in response, not expecting me to shout.

"S-sorry Jackal! I was kinda lost in thought..." Robin responds sheepishly whilst slowly making her way up.

"I know what will get you moving." I gave a competitive grin. "Let's have a race! Last one back to the Valley buys the other a mochi ice cream!" I announce my idea. _Foolproof._ This will surely help motivate her to move quicker and it may just save me from having the Commander scream at me, I think to myself. Robin smiles in response to my challenge and I give a satisfied nod.

"Mochi?! I _have_ to race you now! You better be ready to treat me when I kick your butt!" The girl shouts as she hops to her feet and puts her sketchbook away.

"Ha, I knew that would get your attention, but don't get so excited that you forget your God Arc." I chuckle and point to her God Arc. My chuckle becomes more intense at Robin's sheepish expression and she straps it to her back with ease. I make sure to do the same thing, not wanting my God Arc to get in the way of our race before giving Robin a playful look and bending over my knees; preparing myself into an "on your marks" position.

"Ready? On the count of three..." I state and Robin crouches into the same position as Jackal.

"One..." The two of them get into a "set" position.

"Two..." They both lean forward and I give a sinister smirk.

"Pineapple!" I shout and look over to Robin as I see her make a false start and fail to stop. She trips and falls over, sending a cloud of cherry petals flying as she lands face-first onto the grass. I slap my leg a few times as I bursts out laughing which turns into full blown hysterics as I notices Robin's glare from the ground.

"Ow! It's not funny," She protests as she rolls back onto her feet, "You bully."

"Sorry." I respond as I try to suppress my laughter, "I didn't mean to." She gives me another glare before her stare moves past me. It is at this point that I remember that Commander Viper had been following me albeit at a significantly slower pace. The Commander moves closer to the two of us and stares down his nose at us before his gaze settles on me.

"I thought I ordered you to bring Robin back, Jackal, and I told you to make it fast. Did I not speak English?"

"Sorry..." I bowed, "My bad." For some reason my response seems to infuriate Viper.

"'My bad?' You know better than to speak to your superiors like that! Show some respect, whelp!"

"Sorry sir! It won't happen again, sir!" I responds appropriately despite the fact that we both knew that it would happen again.

"That's more like it." He finishes speaking to me and aims his glare towards Robin. "Don't think you're off the hook either. You were supposed to be back for your debriefing at 1300 hours! Do you know what time it is now?" Viper enquires, seeing Robin check her watch visibly flinched. Her face contorted to something like fear before regaining its former expression. Something about that moment of fear must have struck a chord with the Commander as his expression slightly softened but still withheld a resting angry face.

"Stop your flinching. You will not be punished... this time. Today is a special day for both of you." At the Commander's words, my surprise made itself known on my face. I remain silent though, with Robin asking what he was thinking.

"Special? How do you mean?"

"I'll tell you, so shut up and listen because I won't repeat myself!" He begins with his anger flaring again. Robin stares at her feet after Viper's words whilst I listen with an equally flaring curiosity. Viper clears his throat before continuing,

"today is the day your training will conclude. From this day forth, you kids will be true God Eaters."

"Woo!" I leap into the air with my fist leading the jump, too excited to care about how Viper may react. "Hell yeah! About time! I'm so tired of doing nothing but training all the time!" Robin nods and smiles in agreement.

"However!" Viper's slightly angered voice halts our musings. "There is one last thing I need from you brats." With this new information, my mood sharply deflates and I grumble with a "should've known..."

"Sir?" Robin speaks up but the Commander interrupts her.

"You two need to come with me. Hurry it up!" Viper speaks before turning around to begin the walk back to the Valley. With Viper's words, I remember the events that occurred before Viper's interruption and turn towards Robin with a mischievous smile,

"Hey, Robin..." I waits] for Robin to turn towards me before shouting, "three!" And running across the meadow. Despite the distance between the two, I can still hear Robin's protests, "H-hey! That's cheating!" Robin runs after me.

The Valley soon came into view and the two of us head for the door; Robin having caught up and slightly ahead of me which I don't know how she managed to accomplish. I knew she was fast runner but still, I had a good head start on her. Robin leans in an attempt to become more aerodynamic but her foot becomes ensnared in something on the ground. With her momentum being halted, she finds herself falling onto her face for the second time today. I notice Robin's fall and halt my run, moving over to her.

"Robin," I put a hand on my hip as I regain my breath, "You are the clumsiest God Eater I've ever seen! How the hell did you trip over a tiny little tree root like that?" I point to the root of her problem, noticing how it has wrapped itself around her boot. Robin expresses her annoyance with a groan before removing the root from around her boot and sitting on her legs.

"Crap. I guess I lost, huh..." Robin says with a dejected expression which made me feel slightly bad. With a shrug, I speak,

"Eh, this doesn't count. I kinda cheated by surprising you, and you tripped," I offer her my hand. "I'll treat you since I didn't exactly play fair." Robin takes my hand,

"C'mon, up you go, you klutz." I put my hand back on my hip, watching Robin dust off the dirt and petals from her uniform.

"Are you two done clowning around now?" Viper interrogates the two of us from behind Robin, having caught up to them during our conversation. We both look towards the Commander, getting the feeling that he wasn't finished yet.

"We have some final testing to do. Get over to Doctor Sophia ASAP, am I understood?"

"Testing?" Robin groans and I share her lack of enthusiasm; having to remain motionless whilst people jab things into you, who wouldn't be unnerved by that?

"Of course you fool." Viper speaks whilst giving Robin a scowl, causing her to stare towards her feet again. "We can't send you two off if you're infirm. Now move your carcass, soldier!" Viper commands and the two of us continue into the facility. I give a dejected Robin a nudge once out of the Commander's sight.

"Hey, perk up, Robin." I began in an encouraging tone, "We finally get to leave this place. We'll be real God Eaters from today on. I dunno about you, but I'm psyched! I wonder where they'll send us?" I speak with excitement although half of my excitement comes from the misconception that we will rarely see the Commander again...


	2. Chapter 2

Alpha and Omega - Jackal's Story

Chapter 2

In collaboration with Subzero Dragon. Visit their profile to see the other side of this story.

Shortly after our final tests in the Valley, Robin and I were informed about being transferred to the Far East Branch via a helicopter. At first, Robin was confused about what a helicopter was but after I described what one is to her she was very excited. After all, I may not remember if I've been in a helicopter but at least I remember what one looks like. Helicopters had rarely passed us at the Valley so I can understand that she didn't know what one was. Currently, the two of us are waiting quite some distance away from the facility to wait for a helicopter to pick us up. Humorously, we were told to wait in the opening that I found Robin in earlier in the day.

"Howdotheywork?" Robin's head turns towards me as she lies on the grass, shaded by a tree. Her excitement was clearly evident by the use of her language and how she had unknowingly slurred her words together, however, I couldn't understand what she had said.

"What?" I answer, making sure to give a confused expression when I turn my head towards her so that she would get the message.

"Helicopters. How do they work?" Her voice had slowed to a comprehensible point and she seemed to be slightly annoyed that she had to repeat what she said previously.

"Oh, right. Well basically, they have fans that spin really fast... I'm not an engineer! How am I supposed to know how they work?!" I shout in embarrassment as I realise that I have no idea how helicopters actually do work.

"Hmph. Useless." Robin comments with her arms folded before looking back up to the sky to locate our ride. I find it quite amusing at how our roles have been reversed; for once I am the level-headed one whilst Robin is bursting with excitement. I too bring my attention back to the sky.

Approximately 10 minutes later, Robin had identified the helicopter in the sky.

"There it is!" She shouts whilst pointing at it as she jumps to her feet. I notice that she has a smile on her face that reaches from ear to ear.

"We'll have to move so that the helicopter can land to pick us up." I say as I pick myself up from my spot. I notice that Robin either didn't hear me or just ignores me as she stares at the figure in the sky. I have to walk over to her and, by looping my arms under her armpits, drag her to a safe enough distance. Of course, I'm met with resistance but after repeating what I said before she finally understands.

"Well then, can I draw it before we leave." Robin says as she outs her hands into her bag and starts pulling out drawing utensils. I think about telling her that she can't but when she notices that the wind from the helicopter is beginning to blow her stuff away then she reluctantly puts them back into her bag. It takes a few more seconds before the helicopter lands on the ground but once it does, we proceed into it.

"No more Commander Viper." I say with a large smile on my face as I slouch into one of the seats, making sure to make myself comfortable for what will be a very long trip. I feel Robin take the seat next to mine where she immediately takes out her drawing utensils again.

"You're going to draw in here?" I ask with a look of surprise adorning my features.

"Of course I am! I have to draw this helicopter!" She exclaims as she places her sketchbook onto her lap and begins drawing. I don't really pay to much attention to the helicopter and lean back into my chair as I close my eyes. It's only seconds later that I feel the helicopter defying gravity and lifting itself from the ground. It did come as a bit of a shock but I think that Robin was even more shocked as I hear her quiet gasp. I then hear sounds that I am unfamiliar with and, upon opening one of me eyes, see Robin crumpling up a piece of paper which is when I burst into laughter.

"Hahaha. Did it shock you _that_ much? What did you think would happen? We'd teleport from the ground into the air?! Hahahaha!"

"Be quiet, Jackal!" She slaps me on the back of my head. "It's my first time in a helicopter and I thought I would be able to manage drawing whilst gaining altitude but obviously I couldn't and there is no reason for you to point that out. You bully!" Robin explained. I opened my other eye after her explanation. It was surprising to hear her have a rant like this and I can only imagine that she must have been genuinely upset.

"I'm sorry, Robin. I didn't mean to make you upset..." I tried to apologise but I was met with the silent treatment. I inwardly sighed and closed my eyes again. I did try a few more times to get Robin to speak again but each time I was met only with the sound of her pencil scratching the paper. In the end I just stopped trying and my breathing became slower...

I was leaning against a wall and could feel its lack of heat through my clothing. I look around the room to notice that it is a small, dimly lit room. Through the use of the limited light source, I am able to notice a table in the centre of the room. There are four slots on the table where I'd imagine that a person would either willingly or forcefully place their limbs into. I attempt to walk closer to this table but realise that I cannot move. I attempt to look down towards my feet only to realise that I have none. It's as if I am just a head on a shelf or just a fly on a wall.

"Hmrempyur" I hear voices from outside of these grey walls and only seconds later, three figures enter the room through a door that has seeming just appeared or it may have just been very well covered. I wish I could get a better look at these figures but all I can see are silhouettes. It's as if something doesn't want me to see these figures. The only information I can discern from these silhouettes is that one of these figures is a rather muscular male whilst the second figure is a woman. I can only tell this by the size of her breasts. The third figure is very small and is moving onto the table, moving their limbs into the available sockets. I realise what is happening and attempt to speak up.

"Wa-" I suddenly feel myself being hit with something.

I wake up to find that Robin was sprawled onto the floor.

"Ow! What was that?!" I shout as I realise that there is no logical reason why Robin would lay on the floor. I almost fall out of my seat as the loud bang occurs again and I quickly latch onto my seat; using all of my strength to remain on it. I would attempt to help Robin who was fumbling all around the helicopter but it wouldn't be very helpful if I had also fell off of my seat and began stumbling around like her. I'll just let her keep that floor space for now.

"We've taken heavy damage! Something's shooting at us! Taking evasive measures!" The pilot exclaimed in a slightly worried voice.

"We're under attack?!" I ask incredulously and attempt to unbuckle my seat belt. Unfortunately, the helicopter made a suddenly move to the right and had thrown me against my restraint although I think that was less painful that what had just happened to Robin since she was thrown against the back of the helicopter, and it looked painful. Robin managed to regain her composure as the piloted managed to correct the helicopter's position and she stumbled to the window. After a few more seconds of fumbling with my seat belt, I managed to unbuckle it which is when I heard Robin gasp. I moved over to the window to see what would elicit such a response.

I wish I hadn't stared out of the window now, for staring back at me was an Ouroboros-sized two-headed serpent. It's large black scales stood on edge, using the same technique that cats use to appear bigger to threats. The Aragami's first head's most prevailing feature had to be its set of sabre-tooth fangs. It was broad and flat but I couldn't locate its eyes, if it had any. The second head was more aerodynamic and had a flared hood like a cobra which contained white markings that accentuated the creatures dark scales. The Aragami's tail had to have been about one third of its body length and looked like a significantly sharper spear head.

"What _is_ that thing?" Robin asked in shock.

"A new Aragami? I've never seen anything like this!" I attempt to answer Robin but without really knowing myself, it was a lot more difficult. As if hearing us, the creature turned its heads in our direction and was seemingly angry at us. It snapped its tail over its heads like a whip, in a similar fashion to Borg Camlanns, which sent a barrage of scales our way. These scales came into direct contact with the helicopter, tearing the metal. What was curious was the electrical sparks that belonged to the scales. Maybe this Aragami is a spark type. The emergency lights had been tripped, which were blinding and the warning alarms had gone off, which were deafening. I noticed scream and cover her face. Oh how I wanted to protect her from this. I wanted to comfort her, tell her that everything will be okay but in reality, the situation looks bleak. The helicopter was falling apart and I narrowly avoided having my face wounded by shielding my face. Staying on my feet was a hard task as well. It was with great difficulty that I managed to right myself by holding onto the sides of the helicopter. I have to be careful though as any wrong moves could destroy the helicopter's walls from the inside. It's only then that I realise that the helicopter is falling out of the sky...

"Dammit! We've lost the tail rotor! I can't keep us steady!" I head the pilot's voice despite the pandemonium, "Hang onto something! We're going down fast!" Robin screamed in fear as she braced herself for impact. I also braced myself for impact but tried to hold back my own fear for Robin's sake. I failed...

"AHHH!" I wasn't as loud as Robin so it's likely that she didn't hear me and for that I am thankful. Our helicopter hit something and forced me to hit the top of the helicopter and go through it. I land harshly against the ground and feel my vision slowly fading.

I awake with a start to the sound of a nearby roar. I sharply open my eyes and pick my head up ad soon regret the decision.

"Grr!" I groan as my head feels like it is going to implode but I am reminded I am not alone as the roar comes closer. I make it to my feet with much difficulty. I may not have any broken bones but you can't be sure. I try to locate my God Arc only to find it in some of the debris about 10 metres away. I run towards it so that I am armed if an Aragami decides to jump me. My Scythe doesn't look damaged but I'll definitely need to check it out when we're at the Far East Branch. Speaking of which, what time were they expecting us? I'm sure that we've missed that meeting time. Hopefully they'll know that the helicopter has been damaged. My though process is cut off as I hear another roar but it seems like this one is further away. Deeming us temporarily safe, I then check on my two companions.

Walking to the helicopter, I try to pry open the doors but find myself being unsuccessful.

"Damn. I'll need to check from the other side." I tell myself and begin walking around the front of the helicopter. I find myself regretting walking this way as I see a horrific sight.

"Holy shit!" I find myself almost shouting as I notice the pilot's corpse. The pilot must have been thrown against the glass as the upper half of his body has penetrated the glass and seems to have been separated from the lower half. His eyes are wide open and there is fresh blood pooling from is mouth. Getting a better look, I notice that his entrails had also been split when he went through the glass. In fact, the only way they were still attached was because of the intestines. There is no chance that he would have survived that. I began to fear that Robin had met a similar fate.

I ran from my spot in front of the helicopter to the helicopter's other doors. They were open and revealed an unconscious Robin. She didn't look too hurt.

"Robin! Robin!" I shout as I kneel beside her and take her by the shoulders. I shake her lightly and continue to say her name. After a minute or two,

"Robin! Robin! Come on, say something, will you?!" Robin coughs and I take my hands away from her as she opens her eyes.

"Ow... What happened?" Robin groaned and I felt myself relaxing as she answered.

"Good, you've come around. You got flung into the door and knocked out. I was worried when you wouldn't wake up. Are you injured?" I asked.

"A little, but I'll be fine, really. What happened?" She tells me as she notices a small wound. I find myself panicking slightly at the wound but I feel myself becoming angry.

"Some giant snake-Aragami shot down our chopper. We were forced to make a crash landing."

"Did... did anyone else make it?" Robin asks and I feel myself shiver remembering the pilot's corpse. I shook my head slowly,

"I checked, but we're the only survivors..." Robin seemed to become more depressed at that but proceeded to ask another question.

"We're not in comm range, are we?" She sounds as if she already knows the answer and I shake my head again. I move back to the cockpit to double check, making sure to avoid the corpse as I do so.

"The onboard radio is broken. Luckily the SOS beacon still works," I tell her as I press the button for it. Hopefully the Far East Branch would have taken notice, "but we're on our own until the signal gets through. Can you stand?" I offer Robin a hand but she sits there with a displeased look on her face.

"Hey, look on the bright side, Robin. We're alive, right? We can still make the best of this somehow." I give her a smile before I contort it into something slightly sinister, "Besides, I still owe you a mochi ice cream, don't I? Look forward to that." She still didn't look very happy although I cannot blame her.  
"Jackal, it's not safe here. We better find somewhere to-" A loud hiss cut Robin off. Looking in the direction it came from, we noticed the Aragami's sabertoothed head pop out from around the corner of a building and flicked a silver tongue our way.

"Too late, it saw us!" Robin shouted.

"Are you kidding me? Now!?" shaking my head, I drew my scythe, "Talk about bad timing! Robin, get ready for a fight, it's coming!" I notice Robin give a surprised look before she rushed into the remains of the helicopter. I desperately hope that she doesn't see the pilot's corpse.The snake slithered our way, moving startlingly fast for such a big creature. It reared both heads and roared as it charged our way, snapping its fanged head at us as it rushed for a bite. I deployed my shield as the thing lunged. Its fangs screeching against my God Arc as I push against it. The snake immediately countered by swinging its tail-blade like a sword. I moved my head so that the beast couldn't decapitate me but the Aragami had caught my shoulder.

"Hurry!" I shout to Robin, slashing at its side, "I can't do it alone!" I slammed my scythe down in an Extend Bite, attempting to pin it but my blade merely slid off its scales.

"Huh, immune to slashes, is it?" I change my God Arc into its Gun Form, "Let's see it handle this!" I fire a point-blank barrage of mortars to its exposed flank as the Aragami coiled for another lunge. This provided fruitless as the Aragami became more angry.

"No effect again?!" I almost screamed in frustration, glancing from my weapon to the snake repeatedly, "How is that possible?!" I am forced to deploy my shield again as the beast launches itself towards me. It seems to deuce me by faking a bite and whipping me with its tail instead.

"AHH!" I could feel the sleeve of my shirt becoming damp. I daren't look for the fear of losing a limb if the Aragami decides to attack again. Thankfully, Robin had found her God Arc and had drawn its attention with a direct hit to its tail, hopefully unbinding it. Although the sparks were quite spectacular, it looks like her God Arc also had no effect.

"Crap! Pierces don't work either! What is with this crazy thing?!" Robin's fear was escalating and I can't deny that mine was as well.

"Nothing works on it!" I tell Robin as I try to fire a laser at it with no effect. "We don't have a choice: run for it, Robin!" I shouted and saw her take off into a sprint. I changed my God Arc back to Melee Form to run faster. The snake screamed as it charged towards us. I followed Robin through numerous side streets. I looked behind me to see if it was still following us and I was right. I turn my head back around to see that Robin has disappeared. I sharply turn my head back to the monster in case Robin had slipped. Thankfully she hadn't but that's when I realised that the snake was no longer following me. Of course, I had to be careful, it could reappear at any moment and so I kept running.

After another 10 minutes of running, I had made it into an open area where I would be able to see any kind of surprise attack from the beast and it is where I am hoping that Robin will run to as well. I stop my running and turn back towards the side streets, hoping to see any sign of Robin. My hands fall to my knees as I hunch over in an attempt to regain my breath. All I can hear is the sound of my own breathing and it is only then that it hits me, I am alone. Robin is still being chased by that monster. I have to go back and help her! I hear footsteps against the ground from beside me and turn towards them, anticipating it to be Robin and I have a small smile on my face. I am shocked to see that it is not Robin but four other God Eaters.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Alisa Ilinichina Amiella, Acting Captain of the Far East's 1st Unit. We have orders to bring you to the Far East Branch."


	3. Chapter 3

Alpha and Omega - Jackal's Story

Chapter 3

In collaboration with Subzero Dragon. Visit their profile to see the other side of this story. Important events that aren't mentioned here take part in the other side of the story.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Alisa Ilinichina Amiella, Acting Captain of the Far East's 1st Unit. We have orders to bring you to the Far East Branch." A voice, identifying themselves to be a person called Alisa speaks up. It takes me slightly by surprise. After all, I was expecting to see Robin. I turn towards them and notice that the person who spoke to me is accompanied by three other people. Turning to the girl, I decide to speak up and give the best smile I can muster, although I doubt that it was a good one as I was mildly depressed that the footsteps I heard belonged to these guys and not Robin,

"Phew, are you a sight for sore eyes. I thought I was going to have to do this alone..." I take the time to look each one over.

The girl I deduce to be Alisa, since she was expecting a response, has unkempt grey hair and wears a beret as well as a black jacket with the zipper being only half way closed, and a red checkered skirt. I notice that she wears black fingerless gloves with the left one extending to her elbow, and black thigh length boots to complete a rather revealing outfit. As for her God Arc, it looks as though she uses a long blade and an assault gun. I deduce that she is a new type God Eater.

The second girl, whose name is unknown to me since she hasn't introduced herself yet, has pink hair and wears a black sleeveless shirt under a green dress which has two pockets. She also wears black fingerless gloves and black leggings and black boots complete her ensemble. She appears to be more appropriately dressed than the previous girl. This girl carries a blast gun and no blades. An old type?

I turn my attention to one of the two males. This male has unkempt orange hair with one lock of hair falling between his eyes. He appears to be a bright individual as accentuated by his bright clothing which consists of a yellow and orange striped cloth cap with earmuffs as well as a scarf with brown and beige stripes. Additionally, he sports a sleeveless yellow cardigan that is open to the chest and under that is a black shirt with a cobweb pattern. To complete his apparel, he wears orange shorts with black vertical stripes along with matching shoes that reach below the ankle. He appears to carry an assault gun with him. Another old type?

Standing besides the previous boy and currently moving closer to me is a dark-skinned man with platinum blond hair although most of it is covered with his dark blue hoodie. Underneath that, he wears a half tucked yellow shirt and a black tie. To complete his ensemble he wears blue boots and black pants with some sort of chain around them. I notice that he carries a buster blade and I can't see a gun of any sorts so I deduce that he is an old type.

"My name's Jackal." I continued before looking over my shoulder and then back at Alisa, "Hey, you didn't see a girl in a blue uniform with a blue implant running by, did you?" I ask with the hope that they had already seen Robin. The girl's confused look worries me.

"No, we haven't seen anyone like that here." Alisa replies which confirms the look on her face. I begin to feel dejected. I'm not sure if my facial features mimicked this but the boy with the bright clothes speaks up,

"Is she your friend? We can help you look, right Alisa?" His words give me some form of happiness but being reminded that she is with the invulnerable snake Aragami worries me.

"Of course we can. We'll all help you. Where-" Alisa begins but I interrupt her, hearing that they were willing to help brought me back to the situation at hand,

"We have to hurry." I look over my shoulder, back towards the alleyways, "We were being chased by a giant Aragami." I say in a slight bit of panic. My words seemed to have caught the attention of the hoodie-wearing male and he walks closer to me,

"Giant Aragami?" He repeats.

"Sorry but I don't have time to chat," I turn my body back around to get ready to run back into the alleyways, "I have to find Robin! She's in trouble!" I get ready to run back, hoping that they would follow me but a hand to my shoulder halts me from doing so.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" I realise this person is the wearer of the blue hoodie and his grip tightens to make sure I can't move, "There's a strange Aragami on the loose here. It's rumoured to be-"

"Invulnerable? Yeah, don't I know it! We got separated running away from it just now..." I interrupt him, feeling a bit dejected at the thought of the Aragami being impregnable. I feel his hand leave my shoulder but he doesn't move away. I turn back towards them.

"Invulnerable?... You don't think?" The pink haired girl says her first words and I see Alisa nod her head in response.

"We'll help you of course. Where did you last see her?" She nodded towards me and I felt a bit happy although the reason why must have been from them confirming their willingness to help despite going after an impregnable Aragami.

"We got separated somewhere in these alleys. C'mon, help me look. She's all alone against that damn electric snake." I gave a gesture with my hand as if to say _follow me_. That's when we heard a rather loud hiss and my fear shot to heights I didn't think I had and so I ran towards it, hearing the sound of the others behind me.

We don't even reach the alleyway before I feel a firm hand on my shoulder that is exerting enough force behind it to make me stop. As I stop, so do the other God Eaters and I turn to look to the one who stopped me.

"Yeah?" I speak up in a confused manner.

"I don't want to burst your bubble but think about this for a moment; none of us are equipped to handle this beast. There's no point in pursuing it since we'll all get ourselves killed." He speaks matter of factly while looking at me in particular.

"Are you telling me to abandon my friend?!" I look at him incredulously and feel myself tightening my hand into a fist.

"Soma?! What the hell?!" The bright coloured boy speaks up, identifying the hoodie-wearing person as Soma.

"Yeah Soma. I didn't think you were like that." The pink haired girl agrees with the bright coloured boy and me.

"I didn't say that." I sounded either angry or annoyed, either way I didn't like what he was suggesting. "If we all go after this monster like _this_ then we'll all be killed. We have no a plan, we may as well say our goodbyes now." He states and while I admit that he is right, it doesn't mean that I have to agree. I slap his hand off of my shoulder.

"What?! My friend could be about to die! You don't think-"

"He's right." The calm voice of Alisa made me stumble for words.

"Didn't you just say that you'd all help?!" I repeat what Alisa had said not even five minutes ago.

"I did but I didn't think about this." She says before mumbling, "I'm a pretty bad leader..." I heard this and immediately thought that she had her own issues but that didn't deter me from the task at hand.

"Listen. Whether you like it or not I'm going to help my friend." I turn back towards the alleyways before the same guy's hand latches onto my shoulder again.

"That's it..." I clench my hand into a fist and go to punch him. As if anticipating this, he merely leans back and because of the momentum, I find myself tripping over Soma's outstretched leg and flat onto my face.

"Ow."

"With injuries such as those I don't think you'll be going anywhere." As if to prove his point he grips onto my gastrocnemious and squeezes.

"Ow!" I swing my body around and force him to let go.

"Man, I didn't know you were that injured." Kota sounds dejected and, although I'm glad he cares, I don't need his pity. I climb back up to my feet and shake my leg.

"Either way, I don't want my friend to die out there." I turn around again, hearing a _tsk stubborn brat_ as I do so. "I'll be go-"

"You can't go out there when you are injured!" Alisa shouts and I turn back around to face them with an angry expression as if to say _stop holding me up_.

"I hate to say it but I have to agree." Kota swaps to Alisa's side. Thankfully, I still have one person on my side.

"Wait! I can heal his injuries!" The pink haired girl speaks up and I'm happy for the news that she could help to fix me up.

"Are you sure?" Soma asks her.

"Hey, I'm a medic. I'm all about the field support and... Medicine and bandages and stuff!" She says with such a warm smile that my heart almost melted at how willing she is to help me in every way to find my friend.

"That seems... Reasonable." Alisa says with a hand to her chin in a thinking position.

"Great." I find myself smiling and the pink haired girl walks over to me.

"Just sit down and we'll be finished in no time."

"We still need a plan." Soma speaks up, reminding me that he was still against the idea. 

She finishes healing me up only 5 minutes later. I'm not sure what she was using but it really was some fast acting stuff.

"Hey, thanks!" I say before picking myself up from the ground. The girl stands back up from her kneeling spot.

"It's no problem. I _am_ a medic, after all." She smiles at me and I can't help but to smile back. Smiles really are infectious.

"You know, I don't think I got your name." I tell her with my smile being removed as I think this.

"It's Kanon. Kanon Daiba of the Defence Unit." She smiles as she introduces herself.

"And what about the others? Are they part of the Defence Unit?" I ask her as I turn my head towards where the other three have congregated.

"Them? Oh no. They're a part of the 1st Unit. You already know Alisa, the other two are Soma and Kota." She confirms their identities but it confuses me that a member of the Defence Unit isn't with their unit.

"So why aren't you with your unit?" I voice my confusion.

"Oh, right. Well, the 1st Unit consists of 6 members but three of them are away on official business. These guys needed one more person for this mission and Alisa asked me. It was pretty lucky that she did otherwise I couldn't have healed your injuries." She tells me, still with a large smile on her face.

"That makes sense. Tell me, Alisa said that she was Acting Captain so is the actual Captain one of the people away on business?" I ask and she just gives the simple, positive answer of yes. Having decided that we were finished talking, we walking over to where the other three were.

"So... Are we heading out now?"

"Soon. Just let us run over a few details." He said and I took notice of markings on the ground.

"Making a plan?" I ask with a smile, glad to see that they were creating a plan since I was stubborn enough that I wouldn't leave with Robin. I wonder how she is holding up. I have a lot of confidence on her but against a beast such as that?

"Okay, here's what we'll do. If we take out the invulnerable Aragami first then we'll be able to find Jackal's friend a lot easier." Soma began. "So if we can find a large open space and set a few traps then we should be able to strike it up close."  
"That won't work. My friend tried to use a piercing attack on its tail to unbind it but it had no effect. I tried to attack it with slashes which also didn't work." I speak what I know.

"How about gun fire? Did you try that?" Soma asks me and when I give a careful nod, he determines what happened from it.

"Dammit!" He grunts. "I hate to say it guys but it looks like we've got another Aragami like the Nova on our hands." I hear a few gasps and get confused from it. Clearly he was referencing something but what was it?

"But, we only just managed to defeat that thing. Don't say there's another one." Kanon complains.

"It sound like there is." Kota sighs dejectedly.

"So defeating it at the moment isn't an option but we can't abandon Robin!" I protest.

"Of course we won't. But if the monster is near Robin then one of us may have to distract it." Alisa speaks up.

"Either way, we're not gonna save her by sitting here all day. Let's get going." Soma speaks as he picks up his God Arc and walks towards the alleyways.

"You're finally speaking my language." I smile at his back before running ahead of him. His groan gives me the response that I wanted and soon enough they are all running behind me.

We ran through numerous streets but found nary a clue as to Robin's whereabouts or the beast's. We are just about to give up before we hear the sound of shattering glass nearby as well as a scream. We run in the direction we heard it from and soon come across a large building with many Aragami around it. We duck behind a wall to avoid being seen by one of the closer Zygotes.

"She's got to be in there." I speak up from behind the wall and feel ready to jump out from behind it.

"There are so many Aragami." Kanon speaks in awe at the number of Aragami that there is. From my brief view of it, I was able to estimate about 8 Zygotes, 2 Sariels and 2 Ogretails. I peak my head over the wall to see if I can find the snake-like monster. Another scream alerts me to the fact that all of th Aragami that had been roaming ooutside of the building have no migrated inside of it by smashing through the windows.

"We'll need to take out all of the Zygotes and Sariels first and then we can worry about the invulnerable Aragami." Soma speaks up.

"Guns at the ready!" Alisa shouts and I turn my God Arc into its gun form. I observe Alisa as she rests her God Arc on the wall and I copy her. It will be hard to hit the Aragami from here without sniper rifles but it will have to do. I look down the sight of my God Arc as it faces what was once an office window as told by the numerous deesks, chairs and wires that I could see from it. A Zygote enters my vision.

"Fire!"


	4. Chapter 4

Alpha and Omega - Jackal's Story

Chapter 4

In collaboration with Subzero Dragon. Visit their profile to see the other side of this story. Important events that aren't mentioned here take part in the other side of the story.

As Alisa shouts fire, all of us shoot towards our targets. Unfortunately, two of us, including myself, shoot towards the same target and our bullets cancel each other out.

"Dammit." I curse under my breath before firing another shot. However, since I have a Blast Gun for my God Arc, firing from long range isn't really the best thing to do.

"My gun isn't equipped for this." I speak aloud as I sit back behind cover. "And with all of the Aragami inside of the building now... We can't risk firing shots into the building. We could hit Robin!" I move my head between everyone present. Kanon has followed my lead and is laying behind cover beside me. Kota seems to have given up as well as he moves himself behind cover as well with a dejected face.

"you're right. We can't risk it." His dejected expression doesn't exactly fill me with hope. I too began to feel dejected. With the presence of 8 Zygotes, 2 Sariels and 2 Ogretails in the building it is safe to say that Robin is clearly outnumbered and outgunned. Plus, there is also the chance that that impregnable beast is with her in the building. My levels of fear escalated at that as I sharply rose my head. Robin is stuck in a building with a beast! An invincible beast! She screamed a while ago and hasn't made a noise since then. Is it possible... That the beast already... I shake my head side to side rapidly to eradicate the thought. My movements caught the attention of the pink haired God Eater to my left.

"What are you doing?" She asks with utter confusion on her face.  
"Sorry." I halted my actions. "I had a bad thought."

"A bad thought? Hmm..." She looked up as she hummed. "Isn't it better to" her head faces me again, "share bad thoughts? That way we can shoot them down." She seemed almost excited by the end of her words but they did sound reasonable. If I could share my concerns with somebody then I won't need to keep it all bottled up inside but won't I look weak? Especially if I am talking to a person who is still a stranger to me. My pessimistic thoughts won the battle.

"Nah. The only things we should be shooting down right now is Aragami so that we can save Robin!" My determination returned to me. I don't know if this is what the pink haired God Eater wanted, judging by her surprised expression, but she was happy to see me back in the mood to fight. She smiled and gave a clear nod of her head. The introduction of a new voice made me turn my attention to the captain. She had a radio in her hand,

"First Unit, are you there?"

"We're here, Hibari. What's wrong?" Alisa answered with the radio close to her mouth as if she was speaking into a microphone. She moves it away from her mouth once she is finished.

"I've noticed that there is a new signal within your vicinity. I assume that the helicopter that sent out an S.O.S signal was the on with the new God Eaters we should be getting?" The person, now known as Hibari, uses rising intonation in her voice to make it sound as though she was asking a question.

"Yeah but there's a problem..." Alisa began but Hibari interrupted her.

"I know there is. I've found one more foreign signature in your vicinity but the thing is, this God Eater is surrounded by multiple Aragami signatures."

"You're a bit late..." I mutter under my breath. I don't know if Alisa hears this but she repeats the same thing.

"I thought as much. Well, good luck God Eaters! Good eating!" Hibari disconnects.

"Good eating? Does she always sign off with that?" I mumble again and hear a nervous laugh from behind me. Turning around, I notice a sheepish expression on Kanon's face.

Approximately 30 seconds have passed since Hibari disconnected and there hasn't been much movement. I would have spoke up if Soma hadn't beat me to it.

"We can't keep hiding here, Alisa. If Robin's in there, she won't be able to hold out forever," he stands up and glances towards the skyscraper, "We have to make a decision." Soma sounds fed up and I can't blame him. Every second wasted here is a second that could be used in helping Robin and Alisa's thinking pose is wasting more valuable seconds.

"I know. We can't risk getting ambushed by that new Aragami." She spoke. Did I hear her right? She just wants to give up?! Well I won't stand for it. I shot up with a glare,

"Are you suggesting we just give up and leave Robin in there!? I won't have it!" How dare she suggest that we leave Robin by herself! Alisa seemed surprised by my outburst. How did she think I would react?

"Of course not! I told you we'd you help you two, didn't I? Me and my team can take the rest of the Aragami down. It's that invulnerable snake we have to be careful with. We need to find out where it is so we can sneak around it and not get ambushed." I hated Alisa's reasoning but I nodded to show I had understood what she said. My face contorted into an angry expression, one which I rarely have.

"Alright, fine. I just can't stand the thought of her being trapped in there with all those Aragami! We have to do something." I turned and looked at the building as I said this. It was only seconds later that I noticed a large amount of light being reflected from one spot in particular. Another second later and the snake-like Aragami materialised in front of the entrance to the building.

"Ah! Wh-where did that come from?!" Kanon said and almost seemed to be hyperventilating. Unfortunately, she didn't realise that she almost shouted her surprise, thus gaining the attention of the Aragami.

"Sssh! Get down!" Soma hissed and we somehow managed to duck behind cover before the Aragami could fully turn around. Or at least, that's what I had hoped. I took my eyes off of the Aragami as soon as Soma spoke and I dived straight behind cover. The four of us remained silent.

Seconds passed like minutes as we heard the Aragami skulk closer to us. I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't scared right now but at least I could appear confident. The sound of movement grew closer as I could hear it shuffle around. As it came closer to our cover I heard laboured breathing from the bright haired woman beside me. I felt a nudge on my opposite leg from Kota and I looked up to his face. He had a finger to his lips and pointed to Kanon. It was clear that he could hear her breathing and if he could hear it then there'd be a 100% chance that the impregnable Aragami could hear it. However, without being able to talk to Kanon to tell her it would be okay for fear of creating more noise and thus letting the Aragami hear me, I had to do things more... practically. I moved my hand over her mouth and held tightly. She pulled on my hand to get me to let go but I held firm. Did she think I was trying to kill her by asphyxiation? Regardless, as long as the Aragami didn't hear us then it would all be for something. Speaking of the Aragami, it no longer had to move as, looking up, I could see that it was right above us. I felt panic in that moment as it began to move its head down. I fought the urge to scream as I felt a sharp pain run through my hand and looked over to Kanon. I noticed that she was also looking up towards the Aragami with a wide expression of fear. The pain in my hand grew and I could deduce that she was biting it. I don't know what stopped the Aragami from moving its head any further down but it soon moved away. We stayed in that position for a little while longer. As soon as I couldn't hear any more shuffling, I let go of Kanon's mouth and peeked out from our cover to notice that the Aragami had returned to the entrance of the building.

"I don't remember it camouflaging before. That's a new one on me." I whisper, for fear that the Aragami will hear me but also in silent awe that an Aragami had developed such an adaptation. I keep my eyes on the beast.

"What do we do now? It blocked the entrance..." Kota sounded depressed and the look on his face confirmed it. There was silence for a few more seconds.

"We need a diversion. If we can drive it into the city then we can raid the building." Alisa spoke. Well, if those were her orders...

"I'll do it." Soma's sudden speech gave me a bit of a shock. "I'll lure it into the alley while you..." Oh no he doesn't.

"No." I stand up. "I've fought it before. I think I can manage. You guys head in and help Robin. I'll rendezvous with all of you in 10 minutes." I know that they would try to stop me so I don't give them a choice. I jump over the wall and start sprinting towards the beast. Before I leave the range of conversation, I hear Kanon's first words since the hand-over-mouth incident.

"Jackal, you can't do that! Your wounds aren't fully healed yet!"

As I ran towards the invincible Aragami, I noticed that it had left scales from where it skulked towards our hiding spot. I began to notice them when I had caught one of the scales and I was left with a bloodied leg. It was a relatively deep laceration but, due to the adrenaline, I couldn't feel much of the pain. I could feel a slight burn but it wasn't enough for me to give away my position to the impregnable Aragami. I made sure to avoid the rest of the scales as I was running. Another wound like that could be fatal. Unfortunately for me, I felt another pain rise from within my leg as I just managed to run out of the field of scales. Looking down, I notice a few small electric bolts that tried to assault me but I wasn't within striking distance.

"Was I hit by one of these bolts?" I ask rhetorically and shake my leg to try to subdue the pain. A hiss from behind me reminds me of the fact that I am not alone. Turning around, I see that, somehow, the beast hadn't noticed me or it had and it didn't care, either way I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

"That was lucky. Well, back to work!" I began running at the beast again. I was still a number of metres away from him but the distance was closing and fast.

As I get within 20 metres of the Aragami I notice that it still is unaware of my whereabouts. I don't know how it hadn't noticed me. Didn't it notice Kanon's question and look in our direction once it heard? Something isn't right. I stop running once I've closed the distance to 10 metres. I was relieved that I did as not even 2 seconds later, the beast releases an 8 metre diameter forcefield; something that, had I continued running, I would have ploughed right into with my life possibly ending within a few seconds. Clearly the Aragami had noticed me and was just trying to fire a surprise attack. It turned towards me and judging by the appearance of a flattened hood, it was surprised to see I avoided the attack. As it realises that I did avoid it the Aragami's hood flares and it makes a sharp hissing sound. Seeing the face of the monster from a distance of only 10 metres proceeded to give me the chills but I was determined. If I could distract this beast then the others can save Robin. Knowing this was fuel to my flickering flame.

"Alright you monster," I directed my scythe towards the beast and gave an almost maniacal smile, "Let's dance!"

I sprint towards the beast and it slithers towards me. We meet in the middle and I start slashing at its body. Just like before, nothing appears to work. The beast tries to assault me by lashing its tail in my direction. I narrowly avoid its multiple attempts to decapitate me. It grows frustrated at its constant misses and hisses with more of an angry force than last time before its tail attacks become more frequent. I repeatedly jump back to avoid its assaults; forcing it to move further away from the building.

5 minutes of constantly dodging the beast's attacks and it finally gets a hit in but the good thing is that we are now 5 minutes away from the building. However, it still isn't enough and the pain from the assault kicks in.

"Gah!" I collapse to one knee in pain and the beast towers over me as if it was declaring its victory. I notice its head of razor sharp teeth closing in on me and I muster up all of my strength to avoid it by leaping backwards and thus out of reach of its tail. This leap took a toll on me though as I was already injured from the helicopter crash earlier and sprinting away from the monster. I was forced to use my scythe to act as a counterweight so that my body wouldn't fall over from exhaustion.

"Ahhh!" I hear a feminine scream and feel fear welling up inside me. My eyes widen as I realise it could be Robin. Did Alisa, Kota, Soma and Kanon make it in time? Is Robin dead? This fear brought a new found energy from within me. I notice that the beast also appeared interested in the scream as its head was still facing the direction in which it was heard. Perfect. This will give me the opportunity to hit it head on. I take this opportunity and silently sprint towards the Aragami. Wait. Is this another trap? Either way, this is an opportunity I cannot miss! I continue my sprint. As luck would have it, it wasn't a trap and my scythe connected with the impregnable Aragami's skin. It recoiled in shock and other than a small scratch it didn't look any worse for wear.

"How?!" I burst out in a panic that my full powered slash only caused a small scratch on the Aragami. The Aragami recovers from its shock and an angry expression replaces its surprised one. Still feeling the energy boost from before, I sprint away from the beast and the building, hoping to lead it further away.

After a breathless 10 minute sprint later, I finally feel as though my energy has been drained. I hear an angry hiss from behind me and I can feel that it is moving closer to me. With my back turned to it, I launch my own surprise attack and swing my body into a slash. It connects with the monster but I don't give it time to recover from its surprise as I continue an onslaught of attacks. This must have continued for at least 5 minutes before I stopped completely with my last attack sending the monster back by at least 20 metres. I hear a hiss from the impregnable Aragami and I struggle to find the energy required to lift my head up to see the beast. My eyes widen in disbelief as I see that it only has a few scratches. No major injuries, hell nothing that can even be considered an injury. Seeing this took my determination away sharply.

"There's no way." I whisper in disbelief with my eyes locked onto the Aragami, "It really is invincible." My grip on my God Arc falters and it slips from my hand as my legs collapse due to the sheer exhaustion. I continue to stare at the beast in utter disbelief as it remains stationary, staring at me with a victorious glare. There's really no beating this thing! How the hell has it survived all of my attacks?! How the hell is it not injured?! All of these thoughts begin piling onto me and I feel myself becoming more and more depressed.

"I give up."


	5. Chapter 5

Alpha and Omega - Jackal's Story

Chapter 5

In collaboration with Subzero Dragon. Visit their profile to see the other side of this story. Important events that aren't mentioned here take part in the other side of the story.

The beast slithers towards my kneeling form with a smirk that could rival that of the devil. Its crawls ever so slowly towards me and I feel myself shrink in comparison to its huge form. My eyes widen in fear my breathing becomes hitched as I finally realise the situation. I'm going to die. In a panic, I throw my hands onto the ground and clamber away from the beast. It picks up its pace so that it is still getting closer to me despite me pulling myself away. This continues for a short while and my breathing becomes more shallow and I feel my eyes threatening to water. If this had been all then I may have been able to live out my rapidly shortening life without regrets but as my hands clamber onto something cold and large I find myself being unable to escape. I didn't need to turn around to know that I was cornered at the bottom of a cliff. I had nowhere else to retreat to. The monster was standing only 3 metres away, blocking any escape I may have had. If I attempted to escape to the sides then I would be much more within striking distance. As I notice this, I look towards the Aragami and notice that it hasn't attacked me, nor is it charging an attack up. Maybe it wanted to see me cower in fear more. Was that it? Surviving a little longer just because it wanted to _play_ with me? Well, I'm not having that! I climb to my feet with a new determination within me, I may not have the energy and so I will have to call upon my reserves. I raise my God Arc towards the beast, who has strangely not retaliated to movements, and attempt a slash. Unfortunately though, the Aragami decides to camouflage itself and therefore leave my vision. I don't hesitate as I swing my God Arc in all directions and start running out of the corner I had retreated into.

My wild swings continue for a minute before I realise that this wasn't having any effect. In fact, it was just a waste of my reserve energy. I stop my swings and look to my surroundings; trying to find any sign of the Aragami.

"Dammit. I can't do this by myself. I'm going to need help from my others." I grunt as I reason with myself, "I just hope that they've already saved Robin." After a few more seconds looking around, I find the direction that I had drawn the Aragami from and head that way; hoping to collide with the 1st Unit and Robin along the way.

I don't run for very long before stumbling across a group of humanoid silhouettes walking in front of a pile of rubble.

"Hello? Is that you guys?" I ask the group as I emerge from behind the rubble. It was not even five seconds later that I felt a weight being pressed upon me. One of the members of the group had taken me into their arms. The long, green, frizzled hair of the female made me recognise instantly who it was but if that hadn't, the person's words would have,

"Jackal! You're alive!" Yeah, this was definitely Robin.

"Yeah... I'm okay."I wrapped an arm around her and placed my hand on her shoulder as I return her hug. It feels as though a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders knowing that she made it out of that building alive. I give a nervous chuckle before speaking,

"I'm glad you're safe. I thought that thing had you." I spill my fearing over her to her.

"I thought the same thing happened to you! I was so scared...! I took some nasty hits, but I'm alive. Thanks to you, I'm told." Tears were overflowing from Robin's tranquil blue eyes and they ran down her angelic face. I was startled at this but didn't show it. After all, she had a large smile on her face as she was crying which led me to believe that she wasn't crying because she was said. Seeing her so happy almost brought a tear to my eye as well.

"See? Told you he was alive." I hear a voice in the background get louder as its owner approaches the two of us. We separated at this. I give each one a smile as I say,

"So... Can we just go home? I'm beat." My smile is quickly removed by the stern voice of the acting Captain.

"Jackal!" I make sure to look her way, "Don't think you're off the hook just like that! What were you thinking, running off like that?!" I stiffened at her scorn and could feel Robin, beside me, do the exact same thing.

"I... Don't get so upset!" Robin spoke to defend me, "The most important thing is that we are alive, right?" Robin was like an angel in this moment. She was sticking up for me.

"I'm not mad at you, Robin. You weren't the one who acted so rashly!" Alisa glared and pointed at me. I had the urge to look her in the eyes but could only do so for a second. I was intimidated by what I saw in them. They were the eyes of a commander. I had gotten very familiar with eyes like those thanks to Commander Viper but it didn't mean that I had grown used to them. I lowered my head and scratched my ear as I spoke up,

"Yeah, maybe in hindsight that wasn't my best plan. I guess I thought I could lost it and rejoin you guys later... I'm sorry. I own that one." I lift my head up as I finish speaking. In response, Alisa puts a hand to her hip and replies with,

"If you mean it, then good. Just don't do that again, got it?" Alisa was no longer using a scornful tone but she still meant business.

"Hey, can the lecture wait? I'd rather get to the chopper." Kota interrupted and quite honestly, I forgot that he was there.

"You two both got off pretty damn lucky, considering what that thing's capable of." Soma never let his guard down as he spoke and kept glancing down the alley that I had came through first to get to the rubbish pile. Soma kind of reminded me of the way the leader of an Aragami would always protect its pack and thus look for anything that may be considered dangerous. It didn't take very long for Alisa to agree,

"I agree with Kota for once. Let's get the hell out of this nightmare." I would have spoke up my agreement had it not been for Soma suddenly raising his God Arc,

"Damn, something's still here!"

"What?!" Robin took the words right out of my mouth. Then again, I had wondered where that monster had disappeared to. It was only a second later that a gleam caught all of our eyes and a familiar onslaught of scales came ripping through the air towards us. We all fell to the floor as we noticed this. I look up towards the alleyway a few seconds later; confident that the scales had passed us. One thing I didn't expect though was for the

Exit from the alleyway to be blocked by dozens of the monster's electric scales but one thing I could see coming was the serpent-like monster being at the opposite end of the alley. Had it followed me? Or rather, had it been following me from the start? From the very moment it disappeared? Did it know I would run to my friends? That can't be... There's no such thing as a smart Aragami so it shouldn't have known

"S***! That thin ambushed us!" Soma rose to his feet at a speed that could rival the pace of those electric scales, "We're trapped!"

"No way! Was it waiting for us all along?!" Kota exclaimed his question with a loud voice.

"Is it really invulnerable?" Kanon spoke for the first time in a while and it sounded as though she was panicked. "I have a bunch of different emitters ready for this monster!" Her voice suddenly changed and had a deadly, sadistic tone to it.

"I've tried my spear and emitter." Robin spoke up and answered Kanon, "Jackal also tried mortars and melee. Nothing we did did anything!" Robin started backing towards the scales, "Anyone got any ideas?" She asked in a panic.

"Just one..." Soma spoke up as he readied his God Arc, "Its scales are acting like armour. If its armour breaks, maybe we can finally kill this b****." Soma spoke his plan calmly.

"I see, maybe one by one isn't enough. Let's let it have all we can throw at it in one volley!" Alisa must have agreed with Soma's plan and she changes her Arc to Gun Form. "Gun's up everyone! Soma, fall back and be ready to give it a good slashing once we break it!" Alisa commanded and I also reverted my Arc into Gun Form. Despite how useless it was last time, I must admit that if anything could kill this beast, it would be all of us working together...

The snake slithered towards us with an air of victory to its strides. I set my God Arc to fire Divine mortars and let it rip once the I heard the first shot by somebody else. Looking at the effects of all of our bullets, Kota's multi-shot Blaze laser, Alisa's Frost mortars and Kanon's spark emitter, I noticed that Robin had also chosen the Divine attribute as her emitters joined the rest of our bullets and activated their effects upon impact with the beast who recoiled in agony as it became engulfed in a flurry of energy. Its pain didn't last long, however, as the beast reared both of its heads before snapping them back to the girl to my left. I shoot another mortar to distract the beast and hopefully prevent any more attacks for a short while but I hear a pained scream. Robin had been hit by a scale and made a deep laceration in one of her legs.

"Robin?! Get up!" I shouted and saw her struggle to stand. It pained me to see her in this condition but it probably pained even more for Robin to be in that condition. She kept trying to stand and kept collapsing. It was clear that the laceration was the cause of this. I kept looking her way as I noticed a scale behind her started to gain energy. I knew that Robin had heard this too as she temporarily makes a scared face and quickly tries to move herself out of the way but to no avail.

"Pick her up." The silver haired woman's command was short and quiet enough so that only I can hear it.

"As if I needed to be commanded for that." I reply but with tinge of humour lacing my voice as I rushed to Robin and grabbed her by the arm, swiftly pulling her away from the lightning bolt that whizzed by her head. It was clear that it would be a killing shot. We both hear a scream from the Aragami and turn towards it. I wonder if someone managed to hit the snake with a good bullet but its scream was good news. It meant that it could definitely be injured. I left Robin's side as Kanon rushes over to her and I run back to the front lines.

"Soma managed to push through the scales blocking our exit. He's went around the back for a surprise attack." Kota tells me as we continue firing bullets.

"Will it work though? Robin and I have already tried melee attacks and they were ineffective." I knew I sounded dejected but that didn't put Kota off.

"Hey, have a little hope man. We've been through worse so don't sweat it, Kota's got your back." His words were quite reassuring. This group of God Eaters definitely looked like they knew what they were doing. They must have been in this line of work for a while. I kept shooting at the snake and seen it raise its tail, taking aim at something.

"Kanon! Look out!" I hear Robin scream a warning to Kanon but thankfully it is not needed. Soma had managed to attack the beast with a full-force slam to its midriff but it looked to have been ineffective.

"The hell? How?!" Soma was clearly shocked but I had thought that this scenario had played out. It's a shame that I hadn't thought of a plan quick enough as the snake slapped him away with one hit of his tail. Finished with the melee-attacker the beast then turned its attention back to the rest of us in the alley or more specifically, Robin and Kanon. It probably thought that it could kill them both with one bite and that may have been the case had Alisa not ran in front of them and deployed her shield allowing for one of the monster's heads to scrape off of it but the other bit into her side. Alisa screeched in pain and Kota fired a colony of lasers at it. This proved ineffective and he could not evade a slap from the snake's sword-like tail and he was thrown into the side of a building as he releases a howl of pain. That's when the beast turned to me again. In its very small eyes I could see that it no longer held hesitation about attacking me which meant that its main goal was to make me feel that I would need the help of my friends to defeat it and thus defeat us all at the same time. Henceforth, I would always know that Aragami can be smart. Smart and cunning. The beast moved towards me and I felt my mind flash back to earlier when it was doing the same thing. I could feel the familiar feeling of fear rising within me again and my eyes widened as a response. That was until another scream was heard as something collided with one of the Aragami's heads. Whatever had happened must have really damaged the Aragami as it looked as though the affected head caved with the pressure of the object. It took a few seconds to realise that it was one of its own scales. I ignore the pained scream of the Aragami as I look towards the person who had made the former scream. Robin sat on the ground shaking her hand rapidly as a few rogue sparks came flying from it. It dawned on me that she had been the one to throw the scale. I finally focused on the Aragami as I noticed its scream stopped and suddenly saw it disappear. It was using its camouflage again but what would it do next? The faint sound of it slithering away was all that could be heard.

"We... We did it! Haha, we made it flee! Up yours, you overgrown worm!" Kota began laughing nervously as he painfully picked himself up from where he was thrown and began walking towards the centre of the alley.

"We drover it off somehow..." Soma began before reflecting on its actions, "Damn, what a beast!" I didn't really care much for what they had to say since I remembered that Robin had been badly injured.

"Robin!" I hurried over to her and knelt by her side. It was the first time I had a chance to see her wounds and they weren't very nice. Even with the healing abilities of a God Eater, it would take weeks before they were fully healed. She may even be out of action for a while. My face contorted into one of worry as I realised this.

"We need a medical chopper!" Alisa shouted into her radio. "We have multiple severe injuries and one God Eater down!" Robin's injuries were definitely severe. It is no wonder why she couldn't stand earlier. I noticed that Kanon had started to treat her leg.

"That was some kind of crazy luck, huh Robin? I don't think that snake will be back for seconds any time soon, thanks to that wild idea of yours." Kanon's bright smile may have reassured her but Robin can't exactly see the extent of her injuries. Nevertheless I tried not to sure my worry.

"What the hell made you do something like that anyway? You could've been shocked or cut you know." Soma spoke him, taking the scolding role from Alisa.

"I... don't know. I just... did it." Robin answered sheepishly.

"W need to get her out of this alley and into the open so we can get her airlifted," Alisa looked behind her for fear of the monster reappearing "Is she safe enough to move, Kanon?" Alisa asked her and Kanon's smile was almost non-existent at this point.

"I've bandaged the worst of her wounds, but she's suffered deep lacerations to both legs. She won't be able to walk through those scales on her own, and they're too tightly packed to move through as a group..." Kanon spoke honestly.

"Then there's one thing we have to do, right?" I stood up and started picking the scales that littered the exit. I'm not going to lie, this stung like hell but this was for Robin and I will succeed, although this doesn't stop me from grunting in pain.

"Come on and help me." I comment and soon enough, Soma, Kota and Alisa help me to remove the scales to cut out a path to walk through whilst Kanon continues to treat Robin. The three that were helping me had taken the liberty to start further ahead of me and so I let them have all of the fun as I went back to Robin and Kanon.

It was 5 minutes later that the helicopter could be seen in the air and the path had almost been cleared.

"She's unconscious and she's still losing blood. She's going to need to be carried to the helicopter." Kanon spoke and not even 5 seconds later, Robin found herself within my arms.

"Ready?!" Kota shouted from the nearly created pathway where the helicopter was waiting at the end of it. I tightened my hold on Robin as we approached the helicopter. Alisa had already gotten into the helicopter and informed the pilot of the situation and so, when Kanon, who was walking with me, Robin and I arrived there was already a stretcher prepared for her in the helicopter.

"Put her down here." Alisa tells me and I follow her orders. We all sit around her in the helicopter with me taking up the space beside her head whilst Kanon sits opposite me, Kota beside me and Soma beside him with Alisa sitting opposite Kota.

"We're finally safe. We're going to the Far East." My hand stroked her cheek. "You can rest now, Robin." I speak up. It was oddly silent in the helicopter so to say that had definitely embarrassed me but this is for a friend and a very good friend at that so of course I was going to comfort her in her time of need. The helicopter chose this moment to lift off of the ground and so I held onto Robin tightly as we ascended. It wasn't long after this that the helicopter had steadied and we were on our way to the Far East Branch.

"You're holding onto her a little tightly there, aren't you?" Kota speaks aloud and draws attention to my tight grip on Robin's stretcher.

"This is her second time on a helicopter..." I began reflecting on what has happened over the past day, "The first time she was on one was when we were attacked by that Aragami and we were forced to crash land. The pilot of that helicopter was cut in half from the crash and that is an image that I won't be getting over any time soon so forgive me for being concerned about rising in another helicopter on the exact same day. I don't want to see that happen to Robin." I reply honestly and nobody dared to utter a word... For a few seconds,

"Dude, I didn't think you were the caring-type. Sorry man." Kota speaks up before smiling and giving me a pat on the back,

"Chill though, the doctors at the Far East are the best around."

"Yeah, I bet she'll be back on her feet in no time." Kanon speaks up with the same smile she gave Robin when she was talking about Robin's luck. _It was all a lie!_ I daren't call them out on this though. What is important, right now, is to get Robin the medical care she deserves.

It was 15 minutes later when we arrived at the Far East Branch. There was a medical team waiting on the roof and, as soon as the helicopter landed, they took Robin inside. I wanted to follow them and got off from my seat only to be halted by a strong grip on my forearm. Looking towards the person I found it to be Alisa.

"I know how you feel but you'll only be in the way." She stood up and her grip on my arm tightened as if knowing my response.

"What?! When Robin wakes up she is going to be confused and disorientated, she'll need a familiar person to be there when she wakes up!" I tell Alisa as we both get out of the helicopter followed by the others. She releases the grip on my forearm and I think that she understands but instead she grips both of my shoulders.

"We can't let you see her yet. You've seen the extent of her injuries. She's going to need proper medical care. You, on the other hand, have been instructed to meet with our Director. I can't promise you anything but you may be able to see Robin once we're finished." Alisa explains to me calmly and releases her grip.

"Then what are we waiting for?" I speak in a rushed but deep voice before walking to the doors that would lead me into the Far East Branch.

Accompanied by Alisa and Kota, since Kanon had went to the infirmary and Soma had left us, we arrived at the Director's Office. Alisa knocked on the door before shouting "Director Sakaki?" She is almost instantly met with a response,

"Come in." I didn't even need to see the guy to know he was happy. Sure enough, after opening the door and allowing me to enter, as well as Alisa and Kota ditching me which I found suspicious, I noticed that the guy had a wide smile on his face and he was sitting behind a desk with many computers.

"Is this an office or a laboratory?" I ask as I approach the smiling man.

"Both actually. It saves time and space to have my laboratory and my office as one room rather than them bin separate. Anyway, enough about that. Let me give you a warm welcome to the Far East Branch, Jackal." He speaks up and the mentioning of my name grabs my attention, then again, we were supposed to be transferred here anyway weren't we so that's probably how he got my name. He probably knows-

"Robin is in the infirmary right now, correct?" I give a nod of my head as he probably already knows about Robin's condition.

"Let's get this meeting over with so that I can see Robin." I state simply but make sure to have a small smile on my face as I do so; not wanting to seem like a bad person.

"I can see you're a man that likes to get things done quickly. Very well, let us begin. I am Doctor Paylor Sakaki also the Director off the Far East Branch. We are glad to have a God Eater of your abilities among our ranks." the Doctor introduces himself.

"it's good to meet you Doctor. So... Are we finished here?" I ask impatiently since I desperately want to see Robin.

"Not quite. You see," The man leaves his seat and walks around his desk so that he is standing in front of me. I don't have any idea what is about to happen but the guy suddenly sticks his face right in front of mine. It comes to a point where I move my head back so much that I'm sure that I am about to fall over.

"I heard you were injured quite badly during your trip over here and I accept full responsibility for that." The man then delivers a light kick to my left shin and I can feel the pain welling up in the affected area.

"Gah!" I fall to one knee.

"We need to run tests on you so you can either walk over to the bed over there" He points to the bed, "or I can carry you over there but I can't guarantee your safety that way." He tells me and I begin to think that the man is a psychopath. I mean, the Director just threatened me.

"I'll walk." I raise my body and limp towards the bed and lie down.

"Very good. Now, this test will probably take a while. You'll be able to see Robin once its done though but for now, rest." He tells me that but I don't feel like resting. It's a shame I couldn't argue as he knocks me out cold with some sort of sleeping gas.


	6. Chapter 6

Alpha and Omega - Jackal's Story

Chapter 6

In collaboration with Subzero Dragon. Visit their profile to see the other side of this story. Important events that aren't mentioned here take part in the other side of the story.

I feel a warmth that I hadn't felt in a long time. It feels as though I am floating through the blue, cloudless sky and the sun's rays hit my skin. Maybe this is what it feels like to be hit with a weak blaze attribute bullet. It is heavenly and despite how relaxing it feels, I know that this is not what it is like in the real world. No, the real world is far from the warmth that I feel now. Did I die during the Director's testing? One part of me hopes that I did, that way I can experience this warmth for an eternity. However, one part hopes that I didn't die because I would have left Robin behind. I remember how ecstatic she was when we were reunited after that bastard snake Aragami's attacks and I remember how determined I was to protect her when we got into another helicopter. One thing is for sure, if protecting Robin means that I only have to sacrifice this warmth then I'm all for it...

The warmth disappears and a blinding light is shone from up above, limiting my eye sight and I shut them again. I lift a hand up to block the blinding light and my eyes flicker open to get used to the bright environment. It takes about 5 seconds before my eyes have adjusted to the light in the room and I sit up from my lying position. Looking around the room, I notice that I am no longer in the Director's laboratory and instead, am in a place filled with beds. The electrical equipment beside all of the beds leads me to believe this room to be an infirmary. I could see a figure in the sheets of a bed directly opposite mine and, looking to the machines, I notice that the person has a healthy heart rate. I couldn't identify the person though as they were most concealed by the sheets. In my mind I thought it was Robin but I couldn't prove that until I checked for myself. Although, I was desperately hoping for the person to be somebody else and I am disgusted with myself because of this thought. Either way, I need to confirm the person's identity.

With a grunt, I swing my right leg over the side of the bed and swing my left leg to join my right. My muscles felt weak and low in energy. The pain in my legs can only be described as the pains you would get after stretching your muscles from too much exercise. Nevertheless my body soon joined them and I felt my bare feet touch the cold, hard floor and I grimaced as the heat left me. Now is the time for the hard part; I lifted my upper body up from the bed and could feel my leg muscles becoming slightly strained as they hold me weight. Something tells me that I had been on that bed for much longer than a few hours. Like a newborn dear, I stumble towards the person's bed, grabbing at neighbouring beds to help me reach my destination. I reach the person's bed and collapse in the seat next to it.

"gra." I groan and wheeze, giving myself time to regain breath before looking towards the figure in the bed. The person had green hair but the rest of the person was concealed. Nonetheless, I was familiar with this particular head of green hair and I raise my arm to draw back some of the duvet. It was indeed Robin, dressed in a hospital gown, and I couldn't help but notice her face. She had a few scratches that didn't look too deep but apart from that she looked peaceful. She was as tranquil as she was during the time I had first stumbled across her in the forest near The Valley. That was the first time I had seen Robin and she looked as delicate as the cherry petals floating in the breeze around her. Of course, she had screamed once she first saw me. I had tried to explain to her that I had woke up not too far away from this forest and just kept walking for signs for others like me but she didn't take any notice. She just kept backing away so I took equidistant steps closer to her, always keeping the same distance between us. She had ran back to what I now know to be the facility known as the Valley where she screamed for Commander Viper. I swear, the look on his face when we first saw each other was priceless. It was as if he had seen a ghost, his face lost all colour and he looked about ready to pass out. Maybe he was surprised to see me.

As I sit next to Robin and think about how we first met, I notice a strange sound and disregard it. If only it was as easy to disregard the firm grip on my shoulder. I look at it as it tenses up. I notice it was a woman's hand and it continues to grip me harder.

"Ahh!" I scream as I feel the pain from her grip.

"You should be in your own bed." The voice is unfamiliar but demanding and as if making a point, the woman grips my other shoulder, almost forcing me to my own bed. I allow her to "guide" me to my bed where I roll onto my back and get a look at the woman responsible for tearing me away from Robin's bedside. She is probably the closest thing I have seen to a naked woman in my life. She appears to wear a bit of cloth that covers some of her breasts and that cloth remains in place via two straps that go behind her neck. She also has a frilly, lopsided skirt and high heels. The woman's attire is green and black.

"You should be resting. It's good to see that you are awake but you will aggravate your injuries if you move around." She speaks up and moves her head over to Robin's form.

"Your friend looks to be in fine condition, for the moment." She whispers the last part of her sentence, probably hoping that I didn't hear it but since she was the only person talking, I did hear it.

"What do you mean by that?" I ask the question because, quite honestly, her last part of her sentence worried me. Isn't it amazing what the power of three words can hold.

"Oh," She seemed shocked that I picked up on it as she stared at me in a surprised stupor.

"Well, over the past few days" She trails off as she looks towards Robin. The suspense is killing me and I'm sure she knows that it is too.

"Over the past few days, Robin's wounds have been reopening and she loses a lot of blood." She explains before directing her head towards me again, "Do you know if she has a history of haemophilia? Like, does it run in the family?" She asks me with the hopes of gaining some answers but I have no idea what the word even means.

"Haemo-what?"

"Haemophilia. It means that the body has difficulty with the production of blood clots hence why her wounds seem to reopen." Despite the woman's explanation, I still didn't understand what she was saying but I'd try my best to answer it because I'd feel embarrassed if I had to ask what it means again.

"I don't know if it runs in the family. I don't think she ever talked about her family..." It was beginning to depress me how little I knew about her life outside of being a God Eater. She is supposed to be my friend and the only things I know about her are either God Eater related or that she likes drawing. What kind of a friend am I?

"I didn't mean to upset you." When the woman speaks again, I noticed that I had bowed my head so I looked back up to the woman.

"Oh, right. I forgot to introduce myself." The woman says with a tinge of surprise on her face. "My name is Sakuya Tachibana, sub-leader of the Far East Branch's 1st Unit." She gives a playful salute. I'd be lying is I said it didn't cheer me up slightly but something she said wasn't quite right, in my eyes.

"1st Unit? Then why weren't you with Alisa, Kota and Soma earlier when we were against the big, black snake?" I ask her in confusion.

"Big, bla-? Oh, you mean your encounter with Tsuchinoko from a few days ago. I was away from the Far East Branch on business at the time. Sorry I couldn't have helped you or your friend." She looks apologetic for the fact that she couldn't assist Robin or I. Had I made her feel guilty? Surely there was nothing she could do to help us.

"There was nothing you could- Did you say _a few days ago_?!" I shout my question at her as I rapidly sit up in my bed, regretting the decision almost instantly as I begin to see the room twirling around in my head. I feel a pair of hands on my arms helping me to lie back down.

"Yes, your battle with the Tsuchinoko happened a few days ago. You've been here ever since your medical in Doctor Sakaki's laboratory."

"That bastard! He knocked me out for days?! When I get my hands on him-"

"Do not use that language here, am I understood?!" Sakuya shouts back at me and I shrink away from her. To anybody else it would look like I was cowering in fear.

"Doctor Sakaki had to knock you out for a while so that your injuries could heal. If they hadn't you would have been in a lot more pain than you already are" She explains in a strict voice and nothing else is spoken for a few minutes.

"So when are we allowed out of the infirmary?" I refer to myself and Robin seeing as how we are both injured.

"You will probably be out of here in the next day or two. Your friend though, it could be the same time as you but it could be much later than you. She's in a state of unconsciousness which she can't be awakened from. Until she is out of her coma then we won't know if she has been damaged in any other way. Take brain damage as an example."

"You mean that there is a possibility that she has brain damage?!" The news was only getting worse.

"Yes and you shouting about it isn't going to put you or her in a better position!" She retorts and scares me into staying quiet. She can be quite scary when she wants to be.

"You need rest too. So try to get some sleep. I'll be back to deliver your food in about an hour or two so take a nap until then, okay?" She says with a cute smile on her face before leaving the room. She has left me with my own thoughts and they tend to drift to Robin's condition, something which I do not like at all...


	7. Chapter 7

Alpha and Omega - Jackal's Story

Chapter 7

In collaboration with Subzero Dragon. Visit their profile to see the other side of this story. Important events that aren't mentioned here take part in the other side of the story.

What's this annoying sound I hear? It's like the scratching of fingernails against a chalkboard but less screechy. What ever it was it was grinding on my nerves.

"Can you knock that off?" I ask in a louder than normal voice whilst lifting myself up from my bed, head angled towards the source of the sound. I had no way of knowing if it was a person making that sound or just a machine but it was really irritating me. Fortunately, the sound stopped as soon as I asked it too. Unfortunately, it was a person making the sound, the same person that is in charge of taking care of Robin and I, Sakuya.

"Oh, I didn't realise you were awake. Was there a reason you were pretending to be asleep?" Sakuya tells me with a hand to her hip and a grin that I have gotten used to over the days I've been in here. "I didn't think of you as the grouchy type on a morning." She comments.

"I'm not and I wasn't pretending to be asleep." I lay back on the bed with a hand to my forehead. "I actually was asleep before I heard a scratching sound." I rub my head with my hand before sitting up and swinging my legs over the side of the bed.

"That scratching sound was probably me." Sakuya gave a light hearted chuckle as she gestures to the notepad and pen in her hand.

"Yeah, I kinda figured that out. What are you writing in it anyway?" I ask her before standing up to stretch.

"Just how you were healing. You should be out of here in a few days but" Sakuya puts her hands on my shoulders and forces me back onto the bed. I would have fought against her touch but I've already discovered that she holds more power than me so I didn't push back as she pushed me onto the bed. I was now back into my sitting position. "You still need to rest so that you don't aggravate your injuries. How are they, by the way?" She asks as she puts pen to paper, ready to take notes.

"I still have a few muscle pains in my legs and upper arms but the rest seem to have healed." I move my shoulders in a slow, rotary motion to give them a bit of exercise. "More importantly though," I move my head to Robin's bed which is opposite mine, "how is she?" I could hear the concern in my voice and Sakuya's sigh did little to comfort me.

"There's been no change since two days ago. Her heart rate is a normal 72 beats per minute and there doesn't seem to be a head injuries according to the CT scan. I don't know why she hasn't woken up yet." I hear a bit of shuffling from Sakuya and when I look to her, I notice that she is gathering her things.

"Finished the analysis already?" I ask her since it doesn't even seem like she has been here for five minutes.

"Yeah, I've got a few more things to do. Including writing up my mission report."

"What were you up against?" I ask in interest. I don't really know the types of Aragami found around here. They may be similar to the ones found near the Facility but there may be many different species I haven't encountered yet.

"A herd of Borg Camlanns from yesterday so I need to get that mission report of the way before my next mission later today. Don't worry though, I'll be back soon." With that, Sakuya collected the rest of her things and left the infirmary.

I waited for five minutes before getting up from my bed. I would have done so earlier but I needed to make sure that Sakuya didn't return for anything she may have forgotten. After all, the check-up was relatively quick. I walked over to Robin's bedside and took in the view. She looked so very peaceful but why hadn't she woken up. Her vital signs were all normal and they have been for a couple of days. Is it just because she is exhausted that she hasn't woken up? Her body needs more rest before allowing her to open her beautiful blue eyes. I feel that I can't rest if she isn't healthy. I take a seat beside her bed and watch over her. I remember how excited she was when we were waiting for the helicopter. She was like a child when they receive a present; jumping with joy. To think that the day ended almost in death for the both of us makes me never want to remember it. The negatives far outweigh the positives in this scenario.

"But we survived." I say with a small chuckle. "You made sure that we did. You, Robin, made the Tsuchinoko retreat by throwing one of its own scales at it. The beast never expected that." I remarked with a small smile before it turned into a sad one, "But to think that I gave up after facing it one on one..." I lose the smile completely. "I gave up. I couldn't damage it. At the time, I was happy knowing that by distracting it, the others would be able to save you but thinking about it now, I realise that I would have never gotten the chance to see you again if the monster had finished me off there." I feel my eyes becoming wet and I raise both of my arms, resting them on my legs as I cradle my head. "I would have left you alone in the world. I wouldn't have been able to protect you any longer." My eyes overflow and I feel a tear trickle down my face. "Who would have thought that we would become such good friends? Especially after our first meeting. I remember when you told me how scared of me you were when we eventually became friends."

I use my arm to wipe my face and eyes, I didn't want to look weak in front of Robin if she decided to wake up at this minute. I raise my head to look back at her face and lift an arm to brush away a bit of stray hair from her forehead. After doing so, I realise that Robin's face looks almost scrunched up. Is she in pain? Is that why she hasn't woken up? I grab her hand and and say her name.

"Robin?" As if reacting to her name being called, her face tenses up even more. Something was happening inside of her head. Is she dreaming? Her scrunched up face suggests it could be a nightmare.

"Robin." I say with more vigour, finding my voice. Again, Robin's face becomes more pained.

"Robin! Hey, Robin!" I begin shouting. She was clearly distressed and maybe if she knew I was here then she won't be. I won't lie, I was becoming distressed at seeing her in this state.

"Robin! Can you hear me?" I ask with the desperate hope that she will wake up if she can hear me.

"Robin! Come on, give me some sort of sign here!" I shout with my desperation reaching new levels before her face steadily eases back to its previous state and then I saw something amazing. Robin opened her eyes for the first time in many days and better yet, she made a sound. It was a groan but is was still a sound. I could feel the happiness stocking up inside my stomach. I now know what it means to have butterflies in your stomach. Robin began looking around. She was awake!

"Robin!" I squeezed her hand gently to let her know I was with her.

"Jackal?" Her voice sounded hoarse but that is to be expected. She knew who I was so that rules out any chance of brain damage, I hope. I can't help but smile wide.

"Welcome back, sleepyhead." I say in a light hearted manner. I almost feel my smile widen further as Robin smiles back at me but I notice that it falls slightly. It probably took quite a bit of energy out of her to smile so I don't complain. My smile almost disappears completely as I see her struggle to sit up.

"What do you think you're doing? You just woke up, so don't get up yet." I grab onto her shoulder and carefully lower her down using the same method that Sakuya has been using on me; only more gentle.

"How... long have I... been here?" The green haired woman utters her first question. I knew that she would ask something like this when she woke up. If she woke up; but I don't need to worry about that now.

"It's been five days since that fight with Tsuchinoko." I shake my head, "But that's not important. You should just keep resting." I give her another smile.

"Tsuchinoko?" She repeats with a confused look on her face and I remember that she doesn't know that is what it's been called.

"I'm told that's what they named that snake that almost killed us. Seems it was once the name of some local demon or something." That's when something connected inside of my head, "I'd have called it 'pain in the a**'." She chuckles at my joke. It's good to hear that she can still laugh.

"You got that right... I'll feel this one for a while. But five days? I've been unconscious for five days?" She asks in disbelief and I could feel my smile disappearing.

"Yeah, I was out for three. They were having a hard time with your wounds and..." I could feel my mind drift back into a depressed state. I forced myself to shake my head and put on a bright smile. "Never mind that depressing stuff. I'm so glad you're all right!"

"I'm glad you're okay too." Robin returned my smile. I wish I had a chance to revel in it but-

"Didn't I tell you to stay in bed? You're incorrigible!" I jumped as soon as I heard the voice. It wasn't the first time that I'd been caught at Robin's bedside. I could hear her walking over towards the two of us and all I could do was smile nervously.

"That's the second time in as many days now. Don't you ever want to get better?" The woman asks as she stops at the bed.

"Crap, busted again..." I turn to face the newcomer, "I can explain, Sakuya."

"Who is that? One of the doctors?" Robin guessed and she wasn't too far from the mark.

"Close. I'm Sakuya Tachibana, second-in-command of the First Unit. I'm a God Eater, just like you two. I'm a field medic by trade, and I've been asked to keep an eye on you two." Sakuya introduces herself to Robin but she isn't finished speaking.

"Your friend is a handful." I can feel Sakuya's stare on my back as I look towards Robin, "He won't stay put. He keeps sneaking out of bed to check on you."

"I was worried about her." I speak with my head turned in her direction but not looking directly at her, "Got a problem with that?"

"No, of course not." I didn't need to be looking at her face to know she was smiling. It just sounded as though she was. Was she implying something? Is there something that would make her imply somethi- I'm still holding Robin's hand! I let go quickly and looked away from her.

"You two must be close, huh?" Sakuya spoke with the same tone. This doesn't last long as I hear her tone change, I look to her in confusion as she speaks, wondering what could cause such a change in tone.

"That reminds me, I have something to ask you. It's about your condition..." That got me thinking. Was there something wrong with her condition? I look back to Robin and see her eyebrows wrinkled in confusion.

"My condition? I just know I was unconscious, and my legs really hurt..." I continue looking at her as I debate on what this problem could be. As far as I know, there isn't any brain damage.

"It's alright. I don't mind him being here." At Robin's words, I look between her and Sakuya. Did something happen while I was thinking?

"What is it?" Robin asked and I could see the smile on her face but it seemed to be a worried smile.

"Your wounds were reopening and making you bleed out. That was happening a lot more than normal. Do you have some kind of medical condition that would affect that, like haemophilia?" Upon Sakuya's words, I remember that she had told me about that a while ago. How could I have forgotten something as important as that? I look back towards Robin who looks to be worriedly looking back and forth at Sakuya and I. So does she have a medical condition? The nod of her head confirms the answer to my silent question. She looks down as she admits this with a depressed face.

"You're going to take me off the front lines, aren't you?" She says with sadness lacing her voice. "I promise I'll do my very best, so please give me a chance!" She pleads with her head raised to Sakuya. What would this mean for me if Robin was taken from the front lines? I suppose I could rest easy knowing that she won't be hurt. You know, maybe taking her away from the front lines is a good idea. She may be depressed for a while but at least she'll be safe. Then again, if I oppose her being on the front lines then our friendship will definitely suffer. I don't think I'd be able to handle a not being friends with Robin after all we've been through.

"I don't think its serious enough to merit a drastic move like that, but you do need to be more careful out there, alright?" I am surprised at how Sakuya responded but at least nothing will change now. I will have to keep an eye out for her though. I notice that Robin seems happy at that. What ever makes her happy makes me happy. I stand back up from Robin's bedside. My legs feel like they have fallen asleep so standing is a bit of a chore.

"Alright, good. Now as for you..." Sakuya brings her attention back to me.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Back to bed." I dismiss her worries with a wave of my hand as I head back to my bed.

"And stay there this time! Don't make me use the bed restraints." I almost stumble at Sakuya's words. Did they really have restraints?

"Restraints?" I repeat with a shocked look on my face. Her chuckle relaxes me as it tells me that she wasn't serious.

"That was a joke. But I meant it when I said to stay in there, got it?"

"I know." I roll onto my bed.

"I have to go prepare some plans for a mission, alright? Just keep resting for now." Sakuya speaks in an exasperated tone.

"A mission already?" I ask in surprise. She has probably only just finished her paperwork from yesterday's mission against the Borg Camlanns.

"Director Sakaki wants some of us to gather some scales from Tsuchinoko and research what property made them able to harm that snake. He was inspired by what you did to it, Robin. We have you to thank for that discovery. I'll let you two rest now." Sakuya speaks up about what her mission entails as she looks between the two of us. "I don't want to hear you tried to get up while I'm gone either, got it? Stay put." Sakuya tells Robin. It would definitely be interesting to see Robin disobey orders and walk around but in her condition, I don't think that is possible.

It's been two days since Robin has woke up and she has taken a lot of this time to rest. Sometimes I've grown so worried that she won't wake back up that I've had to wake her up, just to ease my nerves. Of course, Robin didn't appreciate me waking her up and Sakuya also told me to stop pestering her when she was asleep but it was all to ease my nerves. Now though, I won't get the chance to see her as often since I've been discharged from the infirmary. As soon as I was, I was told by a Ms Amamiya to attend a training session before I was allowed back out into the field. I was also told by the same person that I passed, albeit barely and she therefore suggested an easier mission. So here I am, with a person whose character I really dislike on a mission against an Aragami that I'm told has been named as a Fallen Kongou. I've already ran into a few Kongou so I am interested in what this Fallen one is like. Hopefully, it will have the same weakness as the Kongou.

"Why the hell am I stuck with a newbie on a low paying mission such as this one?" The man spoke with hatred in his voice. It was almost impossible to get along with him.

"Haven't you been a God Eater for a while? You should be able to handle a Fallen Kongou by now." He groaned. I look towards him and wonder how he got anywhere with an attitude like his. His appearance mirrors his attitude. The man has long blonde hair that covered his right eye. His pink jacket is buttoned at the side and he wears black trousers as well as a pair of navy blue boots. He looked like a thug and acted like one too.

"I am able to. Why don't you just go back to the Far East, Karel? It will make this mission much easier." I speak with almost as much hatred in my voice. I had never met a guy like this before but this had to be he epitome of how bad humans can actually get. I doubt I'd even feel sad if I heard he was eaten by an Aragami.

"You know I can't do that." He says as he raises a hand to his head with an angry sigh. "If I did, the instructor would be on my back and I won't be paid at all."

"The instructor? Do you mean Ms Amamiya?"

"Yeah, Tsubaki Amamiya. But now we're digressing from the topic. We need to find the Aragami." Karel says as we return to hunting the Aragami.

Who would have thought that there were so many corners for an Aragami to hide in the Tranquil Temple? We've already searched about 10 corners and I think we're on our way to search all of them again.

"I don't get it. Where is the Fallen Kongou?" I ask no one in particular however, since Karel is the only other one who heard it he thinks that I am speaking to him.

"I admit that it's strange but if it is not here then that means we get paid for doing nothing." He grins at this. It is the type of smile that you would see on a person that is being sly. I can imagine him saying something like "easy money" as soon as he receives the mission rewards.

"Well, we should- Woah." I whisper in disbelief as we round a corner to find the Aragami we were looking for. It looks almost exactly like the Kongou. The only difference being the colour. This one was silver and purple but there was another thing different about this Aragami. As we approach the unmoving beast, we are able to see numerous marks on the beast. Many of them look as though a bird has been scratching it. However, judging by the size of the claw marks, the bird must have been at least 15ft. I approach one of its legs where I can get a better view of the marks. It looked to be several layers deep and, upon touching it, a black sludge was released. Some did get on my hand but I shook it off with a shake of my hand.

"What do you think did this?" I ask Karel, since he has been a God Eater for longer than me, he will should know about the Aragami that did this.

"No idea but now our work is done. We just need to devour the core and get back home. If I'm lucky there will be a high paying mission waiting for me." He moves to the dead beast and readies his Arc.

"You know, don't Aragami sink into the ground through a black sludge once they've been dead for a while?"

"Yeah, so what?" Karel speaks as he devours the Fallen Kongou's core.

"So this Aragami has only recently died..." I inform him, hoping that he would catch on.

"The hell are you talking about?" He sounded angry and, clearly, didn't understand my thinking.

"So the thing that did this" I gesture to the now sinking Kongou, "is still somewhere around here."

"Oh really? If I bring the core of that Aragami back then I could be paid a hell of a lot. All right, let's change our targets to this new beast." He looks back at me with a smirk on his face. So we set out with a new target in mind.

We looked around the place at least another three times and found no other sign of the Aragami that did our job for us.

"Well, that Aragami is long gone by now. We should probably get back." I speak up and, although Karel hates the idea, he can't help but to agree saying something about finding a high paying mission to go on later.

"Hibari, we're ready to be picked up." Karel speaks into his earpiece. I'll need to meet Hibari at some point. I've not met her yet since after the training session, I was told to wait on the roof for my team mate for a mission. However, I will need to see her when I am able to arrange my own missions so it will be nice to be on good terms.

"Yeah, I've got its core. So have you sent the helicopter yet?" There is a pause as he waits for Hibari to answer. "Then get to it!" His shout implies that Hibari hasn't sent the helicopter yet.

"15 minutes?! Bloody hell. Bye, Hibari." He finishes as he moves his hand away from the earpiece.

"We've got 15 minutes to waste. May as well have another look around." He walks ahead of me. Is he ever in a good mood? I jog to catch up to him.

A few minutes after Karel's conversation with Hibari, we come across an Aragami. It must have just recently wandered into the area as we hadn't seen it around the place when we were searching for that other Aragami.

"You think this Aragami killed that Kongou?" Karel asks as we prepare our God Arcs to face this new threat. Judging by its appearance, it seems incapable of inflicting the same wounds as the ones found on the Fallen Kongou.

"No. This one doesn't have the claws. Besides, I have faced Aragami like this one before and have never seen that type of wound inflicted upon its prey. I believe its called a Borg Camlann." I speak as the monster puts its shield up in front of its face and rushes towards us with its tail leading the way. I leap to the side and narrowly avoid, making sure to keep my Arc sticking out so that the Borg Camlann will scrape against my Scythe. The Aragami stumbles as its front leg catches my blade and I start hacking away at its back legs.

"Karel! Change into your Melee Form and help me out!" I shout to him as I continue to hack at the beast whilst avoiding its swinging tail.

"My what?! I've only got Gun Form! I'm a First Generation God Eater!" He shouts back. "And don't tell me what to do!" I growl at how he still has the same attitude even when we are fighting an Aragami.

A few more minutes into the battle, we hear the helicopter overhead and know to wrap this up. I jump to the side where I change my Arc to Gun Form and shoot a few Spark bullets at the beast whilst Karel shoots a few custom Freeze bullets at the beast. It falls after a few more shots and I devour its core, much to Karel's disapproval but I can't be bothered with him right now. After seeing that the Aragami has been defeated, the pilor of the helicopter lands and picks us up, bringing us back to the Far East Branch where I intend to visit Robin in the infirmary.


	8. Chapter 8

Alpha and Omega - Jackal's Story

Chapter 8

In collaboration with Subzero Dragon. Visit their profile to see the other side of this story. Important events that aren't mentioned here take part in the other side of the story.

We arrived back at the Far East Branch where I intended to visit Robin immediately. However, other people had already made plans for me. I hadn't even walked two metres into the Den when I was stopped as someone stood in my way with arms across his chest. Looking up, I see that there is a smile on his face. An almost mischievous smile. I use the opportunity to look over his character. The man is light skinned and has black hair that hangs over his left eye. He looks to be wearing a Commader outfit which has been left open to reveal his black shirt underneath. Also, concerningly, he has an unnatural arm. Clearly there was something wrong with it seeing as how it looks like he is wearing a golden glove over it. Is it just the glove's design or is his arm so badly damaged that it looked like it does?

"Hey kid." He says simply with a smile on his face, moving his left arm to his right as I raise my head to look him in the eyes.

"What's wrong with your arm?" I blurt out and only realise how bad it sounded after I had said it.

"Haha! That's not very polite, you know. You should at least introduce yourself before saying something like that." The man says as he removes his golden glove to reveal that it wasn't just the glove's design. It was in fact an unnatural arm. I became very concerned at that.

"Hey! What is that?!" I almost jumped back as he extended the arm out to me. It must have been obvious that I didn't like the sight of the arm but he didn't seem to care as he grabbed me by my shoulder. It was a strong grip that, despite my efforts, I couldn't fight against.

"Calm down, rookie. I ain't gonna hurt ya." I hear the humour in his voice. He was enjoying my reaction to his arm. What kind of psychopaths do they let become God Eaters? Despite the fact that I am still uncomfortable with his arm, I ease my attempts to escape with the hope that if he says my complying then he won't see any need to keep hold of me. My thought process did work.

"Who are you, exactly? You're not a man-made Aragami are you?" My imagination was now running wild. There was no way that the man was born like that. The only explanation I could reach was that the man either volunteered or was forced into an experiment to create an Aragami that can fight against the other Aragami. He may not be a threat to me, yet, but I just can't let my guard down around him. If I'm not careful someone could die.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to introduce myself." He remarks with a daft smile on his face. How is it that this man lectured me about introductions and yet he forgot to introduce himself?

"I am Lindow Amamiya of the 1st Unit. My fiancée has told me quite a bit about you, Jackal." He speaks with a light hearted chuckle. I have no idea who this guy's fiancée is but surely I must know her if she has been talking about me to him.

"I've heard you're the type of person that can't sit still." He speaks as he puts his non-human arm around my shoulders and he begins walking, forcing me to move with him.

"Always getting up from your infirmary bed. Man, you remind me of someone else. You'll probably get along really well with them." He speaks as we continue walking down a corridor and into the lift which takes us up a few floors.

He continues talking as the lift ascends although I tune out to his ramblings until something crosses my mind.

"You said your fiancée told you about me. Who is she?" The identity of the woman who would be marrying a guy like this intrigued me. What does she see in this guy? He seems to be a forceful kind of guy. Does his fiancée even want to be in a relationship with him? Is he forcing her? I could feel my anger rise but it sharply deflates at his answer.

"You forgot about her already? I guess she didn't make much of an impression on you then. I'm getting married to Sakuya." I instantly remembered the events in the infirmary as he said this. We have just stepped out of the lift and continuing our walk. Meanwhile all my anger has left my system as I remember that Sakuya is more than strong enough to handle herself. But hey, it's just occurred to me,

"Where are we going?" I ask the man and his grip seems to have tightened a little as he opens the door in front of us.

"Sorry rook but I was told to dump you off in here." He says as he pretty much throws me into the room and shuts the door. Turning around, I notice that he is not in the room and must have closed it from the outside.

"Damn him. What I have done to deserve this?" I groan as I pick myself up and look around the room. It takes only a few seconds before my eyes lie on the man with dark grey hair behind the desk.

"Director?!" I shout in surprise with the tone of a question. I didn't expect him to be the type to use force to get someone to show up in his room.

"I apologise for the rough journey up here, Jackal, but, you see, I needed to speak with you." The director spoke in a tone that I've become accustom to during my time in this branch. I've only seen the director once before now... Hey, wait! This guy threatened me the last time I was in here! Not only that, he assaulted me!

"You should also apologise for showing inappropriate behaviour to me during our last meeting! You kicked me in the leg and threatened me as well!" I shouted my discontent at the events of the last time we met. At the time, I had no idea what would happen and didn't expect to be assaulted. Come to think of it, there are a lot of forceful people in this branch aren't there. The guy who brought me here and his fiancée, a match made in heaven for them two forceful people, as well as the Director. That is probably the worst of them all!

"You're not setting a very good example for those that you work with! Are you trying to teach people that you can just assault and threaten people to get what you want?"

"I can see you're upset, Jackal, but it was all for a good reason. Well, my actions were for a good reason. Had you have visited your friend in the infirmary that day you would have seen that she was a lot worse for wear. I'm sure you've heard about her medical condition?" The director asked me. I have no idea how he knew about that.

"How do you know about that?"  
"It's my duty to know the welfare of my employees. So when it was discovered that she was a haemophiliac I was one of the first to know. That and I received the medical records for the two of you from Commander Viper. He tells me that he hopes that you both have been recovering well and he'll try to get in contact with you as soon as he can." Director Sakaki spews out words hoping that I can keep up with him. So, after giving myself a few seconds to think, it's safe to say that, at the least, the medical team knows about Robin's haemophilia. I also know that Commander Viper has given us his "best wishes" for our healing. That is very surprising. I thought he would have blamed us for not being ready to deal with the Tsuchinoko.

"Oh, okay. Are we finished?" I know it sounded rude but I have no intention of showing manners to the guy that kicked me in the leg and threatened me.

"Not quite. I couldn't help but notice your medical records. There is nothing here from over two months ago. The latest one tells me that you stumbled across your previous branch having woken up a short while away from there."

"That's right." I begin with an exasperated sigh. I didn't want to talk at the minute. Right now, I want to see Robin. It feels like it has been many years since I have done so. "I have no memory of anything that happened over two months ago."

"Intriguing. It appears you have a case of amnesia... and no memories have returned yet?" The man enquires with his head resting on his joined hands. It looks as though Robin's secret isn't the only medical condition to escape. I shake my head to answer the director. He appears more intrigued at my answer.

"This is very interesting indeed. I've seen cases of suppressed memories but not a case of amnesia. This is most intriguing." His fascination in my case is very off-putting.

"Can I leave now?"

"Of course. You are dismissed." Sakaki speaks what looks to be an even wider smile on his face than the one I've grown accustom to; it is very disturbing. Well, at least I can visit Robin now. She's probably sad and lonely without my company.

"Hey, Director Sakaki. We're back from the expedition." A man speaks as he enters the room and holds the door open allowing three other men to bring in a box of materials on the floor.

"Ah, good timing. Very good timing indeed. You are free to leave." He speaks to the men in lab coats and they leave without hesitation. It takes me a few seconds of looking between the box and the door before I make my move. I head towards the door.

"Aren't you curious as to what is inside?" Sakaki asks me and I can't deny it. "After all, these are the items that were discovered where the Tsuchinoko attacked you and your friend." If my curiosity levels weren't already high, then they would definitely have been after the introduction of the new information.

"Well, I can't say that I am not intrigued." I scratch my head with a hand as I look towards the box of items. Obviously the man wanted me to look inside the box so I didn't have to worry about permission. Well, who knows, maybe there will be something worthwhile in there. I head to the box of items instead and rummage through them.

It takes a while before I do find anything worth mentioning and it just so happens to be something that doesn't belong to me. In my hands now sits a large drawing pad. It had definitely been damaged but it was still salvageable. I bet the fact that the drawings are still in tact will please Robin. There didn't seem to be any pencils though. I guess that may disappoint her. Still, I've found her bag as well as her drawing pad. The rest of the things in the box look pretty useless now but at least these are fine. I rushed out of the room and started my trek to the infirmary. It wouldn't be too long now until Robin was released from there, and she'll be back to herself, but that doesn't stop me from joking with her. A mischievous smile grew across my face.

I walk into the lift and head to the floor with the infirmary on it. A minute or two later the doors to the lift open and I almost drop the item in my hands in shock. I see two individuals. One of them I can instantly identify as Sakuya but as for the other, surely it cannot be her. Why is Robin walking around when she should still be in the infirmary? Is she still hurt? Judging by the smile on her face, she doesn't seem to be in pain.

"Robin? What are you doing up? Shouldn't you be resting?" I ask with the surprise on my face being replaced with concern although that quickly disappears as she smiles at me. It is almost as if I have been starved from that smile.

"I can't just stay in bed forever. I'll get soft and fat." Robin answers my question. I must admit that a soft Robin sounds pretty good. Maybe she should stay in bed.

"Ha! That's more like the Robin I know. You're getting your pep back. But seriously, are you up for it?" I chuckled but was still concerned about her welfare.

"Yeah. I was starting to feel like a caged animal in there." She comments and I remember that I planned on giving her a present. I realise that I must have put my hands behind my back when I was surprised at their appearance outside of the lift.

"Hey Robin, I have a present for you. Close your eyes and hold out your hands..." I speak in a rhythmic tone but Robin doesn't want to play along.

"What kind of present?" She tries to angle her head so that she can see what I am holding behind my back but I move so that I am always facing her.

"You'll find out soon enough." I speak in the same tone as before and she begins to ease her advances. She reluctantly held out her hands and closed her eyes. That's when I drop her present into her hands. "Surprise! I brought you a trophy!" I give her a wide grin. I had taken the liberty of taking one of the harvested materials from my most recent mission with Karel and had given that to her. Once she realised what it was, and looked up to me, she burst into a fit of giggles and I couldn't suppress mine any longer.

"There it is. There's that contagious laugh." I allow myself to regain my composure before showing her the bag I had in my hands. "Here's your real present. Go on, open it." I made sure to give her a smile as she took the bag and I almost burst into laughter as she looked back up to me with suspicion marring her features. That all changed as she saw what was inside the bag; her drawing pad. Her face clearly showed surprise as she looked into my eyes.

"I decided to see if the salvage team was able to scavenge any of our supplies. Turns out some things were recovered. I couldn't resist surprising you." I tell her how I found her drawing pad with a knowing smirk on my face.

"Jackal… I… this is…! Wow!" She spoke, eventually regaining her voice as she flicked through her drawing pad.

"These drawings are very good, did you draw these?" Sakuya spoke for the first time since we crossed paths here as she looks over Robin's shoulder to view the drawings. I can't help but also take a peek at them. "That's impressive. You have a real talent, Robin. I really like this one, it's very realistic."

"When did you do that? On the helicopter?" I ask in surprise as I marvel at her drawing of me sleeping in the helicopter. I don't know why but she quickly closed the book seconds after I had seen the drawing. When I was flipping through the pages earlier, I had noticed the drawing but thought nothing of it at the time.

"I'm impressed! It's really good!"

"T-thanks. I wasn't sure you'd like it, so… Thanks" She spoke with a flustered smile.

"You don't need to be so humble about it. In fact, I think you should frame some of these," Sakuya chipped in. As she stopped looking over Robin's shoulder. It was clear to see that Robin was flustered and I found it too be pretty cute. It's not often that I get to see that from her. Since Robin is up and walking, shouldn't that mean that she will be back to be going on missions soon? Of course, after a bit of training... Training! I almost forgot that I had planned to do some training after I had visited Robin. I decided to make this known to the two women.

"I almost forgot. I was going to do some training after I visited you. Wanna watch?" I ask her.

"I'd rather participate." She shakes her head as she says this. Surely she cannot participate yet. I mean, I'm still taking it easy by going on easy missions to ease myself back into my usual training drill.

"Wait, what? You sure? You might not be ready..."

"That's why you need to keep training, so I don't fall behind." She retorts but I'm still unsure about the situation. Thankfully, Sakuya agrees with me,

"Why do you keep pushing yourself so hard, Robin?" She continues with a sigh, "He's right you know."

"If I don't practice, I won't be able to return to duty. I know better than to overdo it, so don't worry." Robin reasons but I'm still not too sure about Robin training just yet and I could tell that Sakuya was feeling the same way. There was an awkward silence as we stared at Robin, hoping that she would change her mind. She didn't.

"Alright then, fair enough. Why don't you go and two train together? I'll observe the session. But I'm pulling the plug if either of you overwork yourselves, okay?" Sakuya spoke after a short, uncomfortable silence. Well, if Sakuya was okay with it then I should be as well.

"Yes ma'am" I speak whilst Robin nods her head in confirmation of the conditions.

"The training hall is this way. Follow me." She speaks, satisfied with our answers and heads to the lift that I had stepped out of when giving Robin her presents. We all enter the lift and proceed to the Training Room floor.

"How's it feel to get back into it?" I ask Robin with a wide smile across my face whilst doing a few stretches. It felt great to be fighting alongside Robin again. I just felt more safe. She is amazing in battle and a great battle partner. I see her shrug in response. Is she even in the mood for training?

"Hey, let's have a competition. Whoever scores the kill gets a mochi ice cream from the loser!" I shout. Surely her favourite food will entice her.

"Yeah? I accept! Don't expect to win without a serious fight!" She flashed me a familiar smile. That's the spirit Robin but I have no intentions of letting you win, I thought to myself as a grin grows across my face. I reposition myself to prepare for the competition.

"Same to you! I'll take it easy on you!" She was still recovering from her injuries after the fight with the Tsuchinoko, after all.

"Alright, here we go," Sakuya's voice booms over the intercom, "First up is a warm-up. We have a Gboro-Gboro ready. Try to focus and don't get careless. This may be a practice match, but the challenges are real. As you may know, a 'fatal' attack will end the sim immediately. You will have ten minutes."

"Ten?! That's kind of short..." Robin blurted out in surprise, to my surprise.

"With the both of you, that should be plenty of time. This isn't a particularly strong variant. Besides, I want to see if you two are as talented as the reports say. Get ready!" At Sakuya's words, I find myself thinking about who else has read our reports considering that I thought they would be private. However, I didn't have long to contemplate as a Gboro-Gboro materialised about 20 metres away from us. As soon as I had seen it, I began sprinting towards the creature at an angle. I know that Gboro-Gboros most often prefer to us long range targets so it was likely to be that it would use one of them now. I was correct in my assumption as a large ball of water head in our direction. I avoid it with ease; running at an angle, it was easy to sidestep although Robin had bigger problems with it. As I reached the beast, I started swinging at its fins. As expected, I caught the attention of the Aragami and it turns towards me; its gaping jaws threatening to swallow me in. I made a large step backwards and the Gboro-Gboro spins around rapidly. I hear it connecting with something before seeing Robin on the floor. Robin takes advantage of the situation and I take the time to analyse it. As Robin falls to the ground again, and the simulacrum moves towards her, I rush towards it from behind with my Scythe thirsty for blood. However, I'm not the only person that sees a chance to end it as Robin shoots back to her feet and fires at the beast. My Scythe and her bullet hit the simulacrum at the same time. It fell and didn't make a move.

"Huh. That was anticlimactic." I was surprised at how easy it was for the Aragami to fall. I only hit it a few times. Worst of all, I don't even know who won the competition.

"We won already? What a let down..." Robin sounded just as disappointed as I was.

"Four minutes and fifteen seconds! Very nice, it looks like the report of you two coming from an elite branch was true!" Sakuya speaks through the intercom. I must say that I am surprised at the new information. I was sure that it only took 30 seconds to defeat it.

"That wasn't hard at all. Turn it up next time!" I shout up to where I imagined Sakuya would be with a wide smile. I needed more of a competition.

"Take five first. I have to reset the sim anyway. Good job, you two!" Sakuya speaks from her position and I can imagine her fiddling around with a computer or a machine as we speak.

"Okay. Just let me know when the next sim is ready." Robin speaks up. I would have made a comment on that had it not been for a new voice coming through the speaker.

"Excuse me, a moment please. Robin, Jackal, can you two meet me outside? I want to ask you a favour?" It takes a while for me to recognise this voice as Alisa's.

"A favour?" I was confused as to what was happening.

"Just come out, please? I'll meet you there shortly."

As Alisa left, I headed to Robin to comment on her abilities.

"Hey Robin, good job. You're still pretty sharp. I think we tied on the kill shot though. I'll ask if Sakuya will let me see the video footage to be sure." I wasn't sure of who actually finished off the simulacrum so, for now, nobody will get the mochi ice cream. I smile as Robin chuckles and we both head out of the Training Room.

As we get go outside of the Training Room, I see Alisa descending down the stairs. I wonder how long she has been here for and how she knew where we were.

"What is it, Alisa?" Robin spoke up. It sounded as though she was nervous. I begin to feel that way as well as Alisa looks around to confirm that we are alone.

"It's about our upcoming mission. As you may be aware, Director Sakaki wants us to gather a sample of scales from Tsuchinoko for research. I wanted to ask you two if you knew anything about that thing." Alisa informs us and I feel myself release a sigh of relief.

"Not really." I say with a scratch of my head. Our first encounter with the beast almost became our last. I, definitely, wouldn't have made it by myself.

"Oh. I was hoping you two knew something..." Alisa seemed depressed at my answer. I almost feel guilty about not knowing anything about the beast.

"Please tell me you aren't thinking of that thing on your own..." Robin speaks up and I feel myself begin to worry. I don't care how experienced Alisa may be but it would be impossible to defeat that monster alone.

"Don't worry about us. We won't be looking for trouble. It's strictly recon. You're welcome to come along if you feel up to a mission." Alisa speaks as she puts a reassuring hand on Robin's shoulder. What surprised me though, is that Alisa offered Robin a chance to go on a mission. She shouldn't even be training and already she has been offered a mission. It doesn't matter that it is reconnaissance there is still a chance that there are very powerful Aragami around.

"Me?"

"You can't be serious." I spoke in an exasperated voice.

"I was watching that fight. Granted the Gboro Gboro was a weak Aragami, I could see both of you are talented God Eaters. Jackal, you just came back from that mission with Karel, right? I thought you might be tired." Alisa speaks. It is true that I have recently come back from my mission with a God Eater that I'd rather never meet again, but there's no chance that I'm going to let Robin go on a mission by herself.

"A little, but I' much tougher than I look. I'm game if you are." I spoke as I turned to Robin for the final sentence.

"Are you two sure?"Alisa asks us in case we want to change our mind. I looked to Robin and noticed her nod her head. If she wasn't going to back out then neither was I. I nodded my head as well.

"Alright, in that case, welcome to the roster. Meet me up at the helipad on the roof in thirty minutes." After these words, Alisa left us and, seeing as how we already had our God Arcs in hand, we both headed to the roof. Where we made idle chat before Alisa showed up with the other member of our team behind her.


	9. Chapter 9

Alpha and Omega - Jackal's Story

Chapter 9

In collaboration with Subzero Dragon. Visit their profile to see the other side of this story. Important events that aren't mentioned here take part in the other side of the story.

As we waited on the roof top for Alisa, Robin and I made idle chat.

"Are you ready for another helicopter ride? You're not scared are you?" I ask her, hiding the worry in my voice that I felt for her. The first time she was in a helicopter almost became her last.

"Not really." Robin replied. She did well to coat her worry from her voice with a nonchalant tone but I know her better than that. I continue to stare at her, waiting for her to falter. To be honest, even if she didn't admit, I knew she would be scared. I would be lying if I said that I, also, wasn't scared. I almost lost Robin last time. I'll need to make sure that doesn't happen again.

"Okay, okay, a little bit..." Robin finally admitted with a sheepish expression and I could feel my face muscles relaxing.

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" I give her a playful nudge before remembering that I should quell her fears, "Relax. I have your back if you have mine." She smiled in response; something which made me do the same.

"Thanks, and I'm sorry for being such a scaredy-cat lately. I have to get my game back." Robin explains to me and I couldn't help but think that it wasn't for the first time today that she had a determined vibe about her.

"You've been really pushing yourself lately. What's gotten into you?" I ask her as I notice the determined vibe. She wasn't like this when we were back at the Valley so something must have had a large effect on her to change her into this very determined woman. I wonder if it was because of the Tsuchinoko.

"I'm worried I might make another bad mistake like last time. I almost got us killed..." Robin replied with a tone matching her expression. All I could do is smile and keep her spirit up.

"You'll be fine. We'll be fine. We kicked tail in the sim, so we'll do great, I know it."

"That was one pathetic Gboro Gboro back there. I think Sakuya put a wimpy one in there on purpose. What gives?" Robin seems to be very pessimistic right now. That will need to change. I feel another smile welling up within me but it quickly disappears as someone else makes themselves known to us.

"That was for a good reason. You're still technically on medical, you know." The two of us turned to the man who wanted in on the conversation. Upon turning around, I wished I hadn't. Standing there was the man who dragged me to the Director's Office. He never really wanted to talk to me, he was just doing whatever he could to bring me to the Director. The very... Bastard that threw me into the Director's Office; Lindow.

"You again... What do you want?" I enquire with a tone rivalling that of an Aragami's roar. I know that is bound to cause suspicion of our situation but I don't want Robin anywhere near this guy. Hopefully, he will go away after a quick chat although I will have to refrain from giving him a much need punch, or two, to the face.

"Hello to you too, Jackal." He gives a casual wave. How dare he?! He just brushes off our earlier incident?! I thought that there would be no God Eater worse than Karel at this point but now, I would rather he be here than Lindow.

"I see your partner's with you this time." The man has spoke no more than three sentences and, already, I am fighting the urge to pummel him into the ground. He is such an aggravating pri-

"Who's this? Did something happen?" I look to Robin as she asks her questions. I turn back as I speak making sure to filter out any taboo language.

"That's Lindow. What out for him, he's even pushier than the Director." My tone lightens as I speak to Robin but quickly falls into an angry tone as Lindow speaks.

"I get it. You're not exactly the forgive-and-forget sort are you? You remind me a bit of Soma like that. I'm sorry for being so forceful earlier, but we have to bury the hatchet if we want to get this mission over with." Oh God, he's coming with us?! How I despise him to the core. I don't care if he has apologised. If sorry solved everything then there would be no need for-

"Alisa put you on the roster with us?" Robin speaks and I could sense a slight bit of unwillingness in her voice. I desperately hope that she was unwilling to work with a bastard like him and not that she was getting fed up with the situation.

"yeah. He insisted when he heard there was a new Aragami out there. Sorry for the short notice. I hope this is alright with you two." Alisa informs us as she ascends the steps to the rooftop to join us. Lindow insisted? Clearly he just wants to annoy me by playing mind games. Just his very presence is enough to make me want to hit him.

"So that's how it is with him. I'll remember that." If Lindow wants to play mind games to annoy me then I can do the same.

"What's going on?" I hear Alisa ask.

"It's not worth discussing." I don't take my eyes away from Lindow as I speak.

"The Director asked me to bring Jackal in to see him. I kinda forced the issue when the kid was being stubborn." Lindow explains the situation simply to Alisa but there were many things wrong with that situation. One of which was that I was not being stubborn. One thing though, he was right before. If he is to accompany us on this mission then we'll have to, at least, look like we are getting along. I should be able to tolerate him for this mission. After all, it is only reconnaissance so I wouldn't even need to stay near him.

"Hey, stop glaring at me like that. I'm sorry for irritating you. Let's try to get along better in the future, yeah?" Lindow continues as he apologises again for earlier's incident. I, slightly, ease my glare as Lindow's facial features show that he has no intention to fight me but I do not speak. Truthfully, I didn't feel like speaking to him. It's bad enough that we are on the same mission together. If he wants to socialise then he is talking to the wrong person.

"You all know what the mission today is, right?" Alisa speaks up and I can't help but think if she was just changing the subject.

"We're collecting scales from the Tsuchinoko, right?" I look towards Robin as she asks this with my glare being removed from my face. No matter my mood I could never glare at her.

"That's right." Alisa nodded. "Doctor Sakaki gave me this case to use. It's insulated against electricity and should make the scales safe to transport." Alisa shows off the briefcase in her hands.

"I see. I hope we get gloves to handle them too." Robin speaks and I remember how difficult it was to remove the scales to make a path after our previous encounter with the Tsuchinoko.

"Yeah, they're in there too. I don't like the grips on those things, so I'll put them on when we find the scales." Alisa speaks and I feel myself becoming relieved,

"Works for me."

"Where are we going this time?" Robin enquires and I can't help but become intrigued.

"It's the same place as last time: The City of Mercy." Alisa answers Robin. I could feel a slight bit of worry welling within me because of the thought of going back to the City of Mercy so soon. I can only hope that the Tsuchinoko has moved away from the area.

The helicopter ride to The City of Mercy made everyone anxious although our reasons were probably very different. My anxiousness came from the bastard of a God Eater sitting diagonally across from me. I couldn't help but think that Lindow was up to something. What this was though was a complete mystery. Who knows, maybe I'm just over-thinking it. He did seem genuinely apologetic on the rooftop but that hasn't stopped me being wary of him. After all, with an inhuman arm like his, it would be a bit difficult to get along with him, right? I don't care how his arm became like that but I assume it has to do with an Aragami infection seeing as how he doesn't have an armlet.

"We're here." The pilot's voice snaps me out of my thoughts. "I can't bring you to the usual drop off. Too risky. This is as close a I dare get."

"That's fine. Thank you. I want you to stay at high altitude whenever possible, alright? We can't have any more casualties." Alisa speaks to the pilot as she readies herself to jump out of the helicopter which I notice is still hovering quite high in the air.

"You got it. Come back safe, got it?"

"We'll do our best." Alisa speaks before she jumps out of the helicopter with Robin then Lindow then I joining her.

The landing was far from smooth but it wasn't bad enough to hinder my fighting abilities, should I need them.

"The area is clear of Aragami signs." A voice comes through my earpiece. I recognise it to be a familiar voice but I don't know the person to whom the voice belongs to, "but we know by now that Tsuchinoko likes to hide. Stay sharp, everyone."

"Got it, Hibari. Keep us updated." Alisa speaks to Hibari through her own earpiece.

"Who is that anyway?" Robin asks, "I heard you talking with her last week too..."

"Oh, that's the Far East's operator. I haven't met her in person though." I answer Robin's question with an all-knowing voice.

"I should introduce you two to her and the rest of the crew when we get back. I think you'll fit right in." Alisa spoke with a smile.

"Did anybody notice how quiet it is here. That's not normal." Lindow said with suspicion in his voice. I hate to admit that I agree with him but I do. It's never usually this quiet. We haven't seen one sign of an Aragami at all.

"Yeah," I say with a grunt. It took a lot of energy out of me to voice my agreement with Lindow. "That Tsuchinoko thing could be anywhere. I don't like this one bit!"

"Me neither." Robin chipped in with her own unease at the situation.

"I agree, Let's hurry up, get those scales, and go. Don't get separated." Alisa commanded and I wasn't one to ignore orders.

We continued our venture for the scales and were met with the utmost of silence along the way; not even a peep from anything that could be nearby. The only sounds that could be heard was each of our footsteps as well as our breathing. This silence gave me time to think to myself and it was unnerving. I was still quite anxious that we were hunting for Tsuchinoko scales due to our last encounter with the beast. I remember how I gave up on my life after not being able to damage the beast. If it hadn't decided to toy with us then I would have been dead. I didn't like that thought and shook my head to clear it. I gained a weird look from Lindow as I did so but he didn't say anything; I made sure that he wouldn't by giving him a low levelled stare. Due to this, I almost missed Alisa's halting gesture of raising her hand. She motioned towards the old chapel where I almost felt my heart jump into my throat. There was a brief shimmering and I realised that the Tsuchinoko was here. I could hear Robin fling herself behind a fallen platform and I followed her. Lindow and Alisa also took up refuge behind the platform. I kept my head behind cover but noticed Robin had poked her head out to the side. That's when I heard a sharp hiss. It saw us! I raised my head above the fallen platform and was met with a surprise. I was able to see the monster turn invisible again before hearing it slither away. What surprised me was that the scale that Robin had thrown at the Aragami during our last encounter was still lodged in its cranium.

"So that's the Aragami that gave you all hell last week. Doesn't seem that aggressive." Lindow spoke and I could feel my anger welling up inside me again. How dare he make light of the situation that hospitalised Robin and I! I kept myself from bursting a blood vessel though. Thankfully, Alisa spoke so I didn't have to,

"Looks can be deceiving, Lindow. You saw one of its tricks just now." Alisa commented as she switched her God Arc into its Gun Form, "I wonder why it didn't come after us."

"It acted like that last time too. It was setting a trap at the time." I answered her and also changed my Arc into Gun Form. It may be needed for a long distance attack should we run into anything. "Let's stay out of any narrow alleys. That's how it pinned us down earlier."

"I'm picking up a huge surge in Oracle signatures." Hibari's sudden voice from my earpiece made me jump slightly. She had bad timing. "Two Vajras! The signatures also indicate a Deusphage variant among them… I got it! Privthi Mata!" I didn't like this. I tended to hate the Vajra lineage because of how they charge at you like a predatory feline.

"What?! How far away is it, Hibari?" Alisa asked in a slightly panicked voice.

"ETA is T minus one minute and counting. I'm having trouble pinpointing its exact location though." Hibari gave a quick answer but it wasn't one I liked to hear. I hate to admit it but I am quite tired from the early mission with Karel and then the training simulation. I had hoped that in this recon mission the only Aragami around here would be relatively weak ones. Deusphages aren't weak at all!

"A Deusphage, huh? Some recon mission this is. You three feel up to some lion taming?" He asks as he rolls his shoulder. I must admit that I admire his easy going behaviour in this situation. I would probably be the same if I wasn't so fatigued.

"This isn't the time for that!" Alisa scolds the more experienced God Eater which gave me quite the surprise. "We are not ready for a fight like that. Jackal and Robin only just got out of the infirmary you know. We should avoid-"

"They're here!" Hibari's voice comes through the earpiece again and cuts off Alisa. The Aragami had arrived quicker than we thought. "Two Vajras inbound! You should run before they spot you!" It was too late though. The face of the feral beast had already emerged from around the corner of the old chapel. With a fearful roar as it notices us, it charges towards us and prepares to leap. Just before I dodge its attack, I notice another Vajra landing to Robin's right. Since there are four of us and two of them, it will be Robin and I against one of the Vajras and Lindow and Alisa against the other.

"I think those things just made the decision for us. Look alive!" I move to my right to avoid its leap and see Robin running towards the Vajra closest to her as I do so. I follow her immediately; our target already decided. It looked to be charging a long ranged attack, leaving itself vulnerable to melee attacks; something which Robin took notice of. I ran towards the beast as well, changing my arc back to Melee Form into an Extended Bite as I approached it. Robin and I had hit the beast in unison and it stumbles backwards. I turn my Arc back into Gun Form to fire my newly acquired bullets at the Vajra. I hit its front legs but it doesn't do too much. In fact, it seems disinterested in me as it swipes at Robin; rotating its body and giving me access to its tail. I fire a few frost mortars at it and it unbinds.

"You're all doing great. Keep that up, but don't get careless!" Hibari encouraged us through our earpieces.

"It'll take more than a mere Vajra to beat us! Let's show them what we're made of, Robin!" I exclaim with a large grin. I was starting to enjoy this. Fighting alongside Robin again felt great. The feeling of having a trusted comrade to watch your back gives you the power to do anything. I never felt this way when I was teamed up with Karel earlier; most likely because I had only just met him and he seemed to value money over somebody's life. That's enough reminiscing now though. Robin has just misjudged an attack and I had to distract the beast by feinting with my Scythe but that was short lived as Robin had recovered and fired a few unusual bullets at the beast, causing it to fall to its side. I rushed to its exposed underbelly where Robin and I slashed and stabbed at it with rapid movements until the Vajra's movements had stopped completely wherefore Robin devoured its core.

"Nice! Now that's the Robin I know!" I nudge her shoulder with a large smile. "Good to finally have you back!"

"Feels good to be back on the field!" She exclaims with excitement lacing her voice before turning around to see the other Vajra. I follow her turn with one of my own. "Let's take the other one down too! Ready?" I nodded in response and took the time to notice the condition of the remaining Vajra. It had suffered multiple un-bindings and it was clear to see that it had been weakened significantly.

Robin had charged in and taken up a post beside Lindow; something I wasn't too happy about but it was only to defeat a weakened Vajra. I decided to stay back and help, like Alisa, by using my Gun Form. After a few shots later, the battle took a turn when the two melee attackers had been taken off of their feet. Alisa and I gave each other a knowing glance and we both ran towards the Vajra, changing our Arc's to Melee Form as we took their place. As we come closer to the beast, I notice that Robin and Lindow had recovered from their setback and were preparing their own attacks the Vajra. All of our attacks connected and caused the Vajra to fall in an unmoving heap wherefore Lindow devoured its core.

"And that's two Vajras down and out. Good job, team!" He comments as he turns towards us. It was clear to see that he had suffered a few injuries but he looked to be brushing them off. Looking around, nobody seemed to have suffered any serious injuries. That's when I caught Lindow looking back and forth between Robin and I with a large grin on his face. Is he up to something? Either way, I intend to remove it.

"You two are something else. You sure know how to kick a** and take names! You sure you aren't secret Fenrir commandos sent to one-up us?" He asks.

"I'm not here to steal anyone' thunder." I give a simple, stoic response. I may be able to tolerate the more experienced God Eater but that doesn't mean I wish to converse with him. I look towards Lindow with a less severe glare and see the man's annoying smile weaken at it. Success! Alas, I could not bask in my victory.

"Let's hurry. Tsuchinoko may have heard us fighting." Alisa commented and I had forgotten all about the earlier cause for concern. It was true that the beast could very well come back for us. We all followed Alisa as we left the area but a thought ran through my mind. Didn't Hibari pick up a signal for a Prithvi Mata?

It was only a little while, and a short distance, later that Robin spoke of something up ahead.

"Wait. What's that up ahead?"

"That what?" I tried to see what she could possibly be talking about but couldn't. I wonder if the Vajra had hit Robin on the head for her to start to see things.

"Let's get a closer look. Stay alert, guys." Alisa speaks, leading me to believe my earlier thought was wrong. We slowly approached the area with Alisa leading us to the spot. As it comes closer, it becomes more apparent as to what it is. It is a Tsuchinoko scale lodged in the corpse of an Ogretail. In fact, there are three Ogretails in total. Each looking the same as the last. It was clear that their cause of death was the Tsuchinoko.

"What the hell happened to these Ogretails?" Lindow enquired as he leaned to look at one of the Aragami.

"Those scales... It's Tsuchinoko scales. We've found what we need."

"Hey, something's not right here." I turn to Robin as she says this. "Look at them. They're still decomposing. That means this is fresh... very fresh." She says and I realise what she means. The Tsuchinoko could be around here and we have no cover to hide from it.

"You're right! Aragami decompose rapidly once the core is removed. We better grab those scales and get away from here." Alisa commented as she pulled out the case and start equipping herself with the insulating gloves. "Cover me. I'll move as fast as I can."

"Got it." A simple response was all that was needed. I took a look around to see if I could notice anything unusual.

"Okay. Now let's get to the dropoff." Alisa said a few seconds later having retrieved a scale and placed it into the insulating case. With the job done, we set off towards the dropoff zone with Alisa leading the way.

Arrivving at the dropoff zone, we could see that the helicopter was still several tens of metres in the air. That was quickly rectified uppon Alisa's dramatic waving of her arms which informed the pilot to lower the helicopter so we could get on it.

"How'd it go?" The pilot asks as soon as we were all in the helicopter. Unfortunately for me, Alisa decided to take the seat next to Robin; meaning I am now sat next to Lindow.

"We got what we came for but it wasn't without difficulty. We had to fight two Vajra but with these new recruits" Lindow slaps my back as he continues and I grunt in response to his slap, "we made quick work of them." I wasn't expecting Lindow to do what he did and became a little winded because of it.

"Hey, you okay? I didn't slap you too hard, did I?" Lindow asks and I turn towards him. I do see concern on his face but right now, I am not too focused on that.

"Oh no. I just decided to grunt because I was imitating an Aragami- Of course that hurt!" I started sarcastically but almost blew my top at Lindow because of his question.

"Jeez, sorry man." He raised his hands and waved them in front of himself.

"You know, if you want us to get along then you're going to need to stop doing things like that." I speak with a calm voice, quite the contrast from my previous rage, I know, but it was true. If he did want us to get along then that sort of stuff had to stop. "That includes the headlock you had me in earlier as well as throwing me into the Director's Office." I ignore the

"Oh, so that's what happened" from the two girls sitting opposite us and I continue,

"Also, no more pats on the back, shoulder or wherever else you may want to assault me. Jeez you'd think that you have a thing for guys with the amount of times you touched me." I say in a light hearted manner. I did want to start this friendship in a light hearted manner but understood that that wouldn't be the case if I were to point out all his faults in attempting to make a friend out of me before.

"Wait, what? I am happily engaged, remember? I told you that Sakuya is my _fiancé_ _e."_

 _"_ _Yeah you did. But you could have fooled me." I turn my head away from him and look out of the window. I remain like that and ignore the sappy thing he says about friendships and how even Soma became less cold towards people but I couldn't care. That is in the past._

 _The rest of the helicopter goes by relatively quickly. No longer was the animosity I held towards Lindow present and bringing the mood down. No, it was more of a dislike than anything. That will probably change in the future though especially if I am put on missions with him but that probably won't be very often. Hopefully won't be very often. Other than that, there was only one thing that concerned me during the ride back. About 10 minutes away from the Outer Ghetto, I saw a brief, gold object move behind some rubble. I had and currently have no idea what it was but if it is an Aragami and it is that close to the Den then I will need to take care of it. With this in mind, I wasn't really paying too much attention to Alisa greeting us to the rest of the God Eaters in the Far Easst. It must have been like some royal tour as we stopped by everyone's room. Like I'd need to know where they sleep! What was surprising though is that mostly everyone were in their rooms. The only people that weren't were out on a mission. Apparently, a civilian residing within the Outer Ghetto had made a claim of a golden Aragami skulking near the Anti-Aragami Wall. Of course, due to its components which I had already looked up using the NORN database, I found out that no normal Aragami would come close to it due to what it consists of, so why was this Aragami skulking around so close to it. That really intrigued me._

 _After Alisa's "Royal tour of the Far East" as I am hereby calling it, I retreated to my room. It was a bit early to go to sleep but I intended to wake up early so that I could investigate this golden Aragami. Apparently, the God Eater that were sent out yesterday only had to protect the citizens; meaning that the Aragami is still out there. With this in mind, I get some much needed rest._

 _Early the next morning, I walk into the main lobby of the Far East Branch. The only person I see is Hibari, I was introduced to her yesterday, with the hopes of asking about the mission regarding the golden Aragami._

 _"_ _Good morning, Hibari." I greet the woman who seems surprised to see me. It looks as though she has only recently taken up her post as she still has a cup of coffee on the desk._

 _"_ _Jackal? You're up early. Have you always been an early riser?" She asks me._

 _"_ _No. It's just that I was intrigued by something yesterday and am following up on it today. It is regarding the mission about the golden Aragami?" My voice rises in intonation as I try to get Hibari to remember the mission I am talking about. She blinks at me a few times, seemingly unable to remember but,_

 _"_ _Oh! The mission that Gina, Shun and Federico went on?" I give a nod of my head at that. I was told that they were the three God Eaters that I was still to meet since they were on this mission._

 _"_ _It's funny you mention that actually." She says as her fingers move on the computer keyboard. "I've just received the mission schedule for today and one of them includes scoping out the area the Aragami was last sighted in. You said you were intrigued about the Aragami? Would you like to take a member of the intel team and going on this mission when you're ready?" She asks and I couldn't have agreed any faster than I had. It looks like my next mission will be an interesting one..._


	10. Chapter 10

Alpha and Omega - Jackal's Story

Chapter 10

In collaboration with Subzero Dragon. Visit their profile to see the other side of this story. Important events that aren't mentioned here take part in the other side of the story.

Subzero Dragon's Chapter = 5500+ words

I wandered around the Den for a while as I thought of who to bring on this mission. As far as I am aware, there is no such thing as an Intel team here in the Far East so does that mean that Hibari told me to bring someone who was on the mission with Gina, Shun and Federico? That must be it, but I don't know who any of them are. Damn it! I knew I should have paid more attention to the introductions yesterday! I could ask somebody who these people are but the only people I really know are Robin, the 1st Unit and Karel. Asking Karel is out of the question. I can't stand the guy. It was bad enough to be sent on one mission with him, it would be even worse to communicate with him outside of missions too.

"Bet you can't keep 'em off of you." I raised my head in the direction of this unusually loud voice. There I could see the owner of the voice was a white haired woman whose favourite colour seemed to be purple, judging by her attire. She wasn't the only person I could see though, next to her was Robin and she looked more than a little perturbed by the other's presence.

"Hey, you! Stop bugging Robin!" I quickly came to Robin's defence as I approached the two of them. My face sported a look of on not to be messed with. Unfortunately, this woman didn't get the message.

"Aw, you're a spoilsport, can't you see we were just having a girl-to-girl chat?" The woman spoke with humour and determination in her voice. She made it clear that she wasn't going to stop annoying Robin and that annoyed me too.

"Only if it's a different topic, please..." Robin spoke and I noticed that during the white haired woman's previous line of speech, Robin had been retreating towards the lift. I found this and her nervous tone of voice to be quite cute but didn't express this.

"See? She agrees." The purple clad woman spoke and made a shooing gesture with her hand. I must admit that she knows how to annoy people. "Now go and let us get back to the juicy part." I could feel my voice beginning to rise as I prepared to speak back to her. At least, I would have had it not been for a startling noise coming from Robin's vicinity. Looking at her, I notice that the lift doors had opened and Karel had walked out. Just the person I didn't want to see.

"Karel." I spoke with a stern voice. It really was a bad time for him to show up.

"What, Jackal? I'm just here to pick up a new mission." Fair enough. I shouldn't get angry if that's all he is doing. I begin to ease myself from a stiffened pose that I hadn't realised I had went into. That was until,

"Are you here for a cut of my reward again?" He glared at me as he spoke with a tone that reminds me of how royals would speak down to others. That fired me up and I had to force myself from punching the man that deems himself as being 'holier than thou'.

"You wish, I'm just looking for the three God Eaters who saw the strange, golden Aragami earlier. I think their names were Federico, Shun, and Gina." I scoffed.

"You mean that bird thing from earlier?" The silver haired woman spoke for the first time since Karel arrived. "I was on that mission. I'm Gina." She seemed genuinely intrigued by the flow of conversation and appeared a little giddy. After she says this Karel decides to start walking and not-so-friendlily bumps into me as he does so.

"She'll tell you. Now get out of the way."

"Grr..." I growl as he moves by and my anger sky-rocketed. How dare he treat me like that! I'll give him a good enough thumping that will make him learn some manners! I ball my fists up and prepare to walk after him but a gentle, and firm, hand on my shoulder stops me.

"Jackal, calm down. Leave it." Robin speaks in a calming tone but it does little to calm my thoughts.

"Jackass." I mutter under my breath as I didn't want Robin to hear that but I needed to do it to take care of some of my anger. I turn back towards the two, Robin and Gina, after giving a sharp sigh.

"Sorry you had to see that, Robin, Gina." I spoke with a hand on the back of my neck. "That jerk values his own wallet more than the mission, and that kind of selfishness really pisses me off in a hurry." While I stopped speaking, my thoughts continued, he is the type of person that I wouldn't mind seeing on the wrong end of multiple Aragami attacks.

"Ooh, a hot-blooded type, aren't you?" Gina asked me before turning to Robin. As soon as my brain processed what she said, I immediately tuned out whatever else she was going to say. This woman says she is Gina, one of the few people on the reconnaissance mission earlier, and I have already found her annoying. Unless she says something about the Aragami I'm searching for, I am going to disregard everything she says. It turns out that I must have disregarded her for a while as someone new joins in the conversation.

"Gina, stop teasing the new kids. You don't want them to spook." Lindow speaks after he got out of the lift. I find myself beginning to think that this lift seems to bring all of the I have problems with into this conversation.

"Oh, it's not teasing if it is the truth! I'll just let them think on it some more. Can't rush love." Gina speaks with a teasing tone. I must have disregarded her for too long as I have no idea how we got onto this topic. Wait, did they resume their girl talk whilst I was here? Anyway, that's not important right now. I want to know about the Golden Aragami and it's clear that Gina wasn't going to talk to me about it.

"Do either of you know where Shun or Federico are? I still have to ask them about that mission." I spoke to get us back on track.

"I think Federico went on a mission with Brendan, Tatsumi, and Kanon to the Sunken Grid not long ago. It's just two Fallen Chi-Yous, so I expect they'll be back before dark. As for Shun, I last saw him in the cafeteria, grumbling something about being bored." Lindow answered and I was happy for it. If Shun is bored then he could probably come along with me on the mission.

"Then let's go, Robin." I speak with a smile as I turn towards her before we head towards the lift. Or we would have had Gina not decided to run in front of us and block our path. This woman was seriously becoming a nuisance.

"Did I put you two off? Okay, I get it. Let's be serious then. I know about that Aragami too, so if you want me to tell you, just ask!" She looked quite desperate as she said this.

"Well, don't you think right in front of the elevator is a weird place to discuss it?" Lindow continued, "How about you three head to the cafeteria and discuss the details with Shun? I heard him grumbling about how he wants a challenge. Maybe you should think of taking him and Gina with you, Jackal." Lindow suggested but I'm not too sure I want Gina on this mission.

"I'd like that! I love fresh prey. New Aragami like that make me want to hunt." Gina speaks with passion almost instantly after Lindow. I had begun to question her word choice "prey" as an example. She sounds rather sadistic.

"Good. Well, I have a date to see to, so I'll see you all later." Lindow speaks up as if it was decided that Gina was coming with us and leaves at that. Just as I finish questioning Gina's word choice I begin to question Lindow's; "date" for an example. Isn't he engaged.

"Date?" Robin also seemed puzzled by this. Does this mean that Lindow is the type to use women for sex?

"Didn't expect him to be that type..." I scratch my had as I speak with a puzzled expression marring my face. Gina seemed unaffected by this though.

"Oh, Lindow just says stuff like that when he's hunting something big. I wonder what he'll take down this time? Maybe another Ouroborus? Or better yet, two!" Gina was definitely the sadistic type. "Well, enough of that. Let's find a seat at the cafeteria and discuss that Aragami there, hm?" Robin and I nodded in response and followed Gina into the lift with our destination being the cafeteria.

Gina, Robin and I entered through the cafeteria door after navigating our way through many hallways. It turns out that the lift is quite the distance away from the cafeteria despite this floor being need the cafeteria floor. Upon entering the cafeteria, we find one person in it. This person is a red-haired man situated at the far end of a table. His attire consisted of a lime-green jacket, a black shirt, and a cap positioned sideways.

"Shun! Hey!" Gina almost sang her greeting to him.

"What, Gina? I'm kinda busy." His tone reminded me of Karel. Hopefully he doesn't have the same attitude as him.

"You know that scouting mission we went on yesterday? Jackal here has some questions to ask us." Gina, again, almost sang as she took the seat beside him whilst Robin and I sat across from them. Shun appeared to be sizing us up as he acknowledges Gina.

"You're those so-called 'elite' God Eaters we got. You two don't look like much."

"I'm tougher than I look." I speak before remembering that Robin is beside me. "We both are." Shun smiles at this. Maybe he isn't like Karel.

"You better be! I heard you two raised hell last week. Hunting that Tsuchinoko thing was ballsy of you!" I was glad to hear his response wasn't something that would imply we could have done better but it was annoying to hear that even Shun, a person that I have just met, already knows about what happened last week.

"How does everyone know about that?" I ask with a palm on my forehead.

"Well, you better include me next time! Tsuchinoko won't stand a snowball's chance against my blade!" Shun exclaims with passion lacing his voice. Maybe he is some kind of sadist. It would make sense though. Two sadists, Gina and Shun, on a team. They'd have no empathy for the Aragami and prefer to see them suffer. They might be useful on the team...

"So the bird. We saw it, but we didn't have the 'manpower' for a head-on fight." He used hand gestures to emphasise the word "manpower". He didn't sound too happy during his speech.

"But Federico was right," Gina replied, "As much as I love a good fight, three of us versus one large Aragami, and a new one at that, wouldn't have ended so well." As Gina chips in, I get the feeling that their other team member, Federico, had suggested that the three of them escape from the Aragami. It sounds as though he was the captain for that mission.

"I wanted that mission to track the thing, but Hibari said it was taken!" Shun shook his head as he spoke, "I was looking for something challenging. I'm sick of all the small-fry missions I've been stuck with lately!" Perfect! He doesn't know that I was the person that accepted the mission. If I ask him, he'll probably want to come along! After all, didn't he say he wanted a challenge?

"So, why don't you come with me then? I took that mission. If you're so keen on taking it down, do it with me." I noticed that Robin did a little jump as I spoke. Was she scared that I spoke so suddenly?

"This sucks. I find my prey but I have to share the spotlight with some wannabe hero? Pass." Shun replies in a depressed tone and slumps into his seat. Maybe I was wrong to say he was more like Gina. I can identify certain aspects about him that is easy to see in Karel and that annoys me greatly.

"Fine, then don't come. I'm just looking for some experience with the thing." I speak with a snarl. If Shun was going to act like that then I don't need him on the team anyway. Besides, I turn to the white haired woman on his left, I can ask Gina if she wants to come along. I would much rather have her company than Shun's. "Gina, you in?"

"You bet I am! Fresh prey is my speciality!" Gina spoke with another sadistic look on her face and a smile that stretches from ear to ear. She turns to Shun, "C'mon, Shun. Don't be a lone wolf. Or are you just scared?" Gina' words appear to have an affect on Shun as he quickly sits straight.

"Scared?! Hell no, I'm not scared of an Aragami! I take it back, I'm in. You should be grateful." Shun changes his tune pretty quickly and I withhold a sigh at his words. He may not be as irritable as Karel but he still is quite irritating.

"So, that's three then? Who're you picking for your fourth, Jackal?" Robin asked from beside me. Truthfully, there was only one person in the Far East that I could trust to be by my side.

"Oh, some cute spear-wielder I know. She won't mind, will she?" I ask her with humour in my voice. She smiles in response which only emphasises my point.

"She sure won't!"

"Then that's settled! Good!" Now that the team has been sorted out, now all that's left is to prepare.

"So where is the mission this time, oh fearless leader?" Gina asks in what I can only describe as a suggestive voice as she leans across the table. What was worse was that I could see down her shirt and see something black. It was quite unnerving and I felt a weird tingle down my spine. I shuffled in my seat to regain my thoughts.

"The mission's somewhere called the Wailing Plains. Hibari said it rains almost constantly there, so I better prepare supplies for the weather. Meet me up on the roof in thirty minutes." I informed them. These were the last words spoken before we all left the cafeteria to prepare.

It didn't take long to prepare. Since it rains most of the time, I decided to take a jacket with a hood. Hopefully it should keep me relatively dry. I hopes that the others have thought the same thing as me. Shun has a hood on his jumper but the two girls, Robin and Gina, didn't look to be wearing anything that could keep them dry. Luckily, they did decide to wear something that could keep them dry. Either way, sitting in the helicopter now, it is really quite a boring trip to the Wailing Plains.

The helicopter dropped us off near the edge of what looked to be a crater. The reason as to how the crater formed didn't concern me. What did, though, was the enormous tornado in the middle of it. I began to think that it was too dangerous to stay here for long. The tornado made the rain even worse. There was not much point of wearing this jacket. It was already soaked to the bone. Looking at the others, I noticed that they were all soaked too.

"This should be good." Shun spoke the first words since we landed, "You three better not hold me back." He shot the three of us a smug over-the-shoulder smile.

"Didn't plan to. I'm just here for the thrill." Yeah, I don't have to worry about Gina sympathising with these monsters. She is very clearly sadistic but it was a trait to be thankful for when against Aragami. There'd be no hesitation to finish it off.

"All vitals are green. Stay sharp and don't let your guard down. If that new Aragami is invulnerable like Tsuchinoko, you must retreat, am I clear?" Hibari makes herself known through the intercom.

"Sure. It's better to come back alive than doing something stupid." Robin answers and I find it difficult to argue with that reasoning; not that I'd want to.

"That's the spirit! Oh, and try not to forget who I am this time, okay Robin? That kind of hurt last time." Hibari speaks honestly. It must have been hard to know that you were forgotten.

"G-got it, Hibari." Robin spoke with embarrassment in her voice but we didn't have time for this.

"Alright, let's start the search. Don't get separated, guys!" I spoke, reminding them that we are out here for a reason. Looking at my squad, I noticed Robin nod her head and the other two give me a sign of acknowledgement too.

Approximately five minutes of searching for any clues of the beast later, four words from Shun gave him my immediate attention.

"It's that bird again!" I looked to where he was looking, noticing he had drawn his sword in the process, and could see a figure perched on top of a ruined building. It did, indeed, look like a bird. From my position, I could see a lot of gold feathers littering its body. That's not all though, it seemed to have a crest on its head, a tail nearly twice the size of its body with three appendages that reminded me of peacock feathers with the spots on them shining as the light hits them. This Aragami, whilst notably smaller than the Tsuchinoko, appeared to carry itself with a huge sense of pride. Under the crest sat its eyes which were a set of savage slits whilst at the end of each wing was a three-pronged claw. It was quite the sight to behold butt we're not here to admire the sight!

"I don't like this." Robin speaks with caution in her voice and I look to her, making sure to keep the beast in my sight as well, "I know it sees us. Why isn't it attacking?" She raises a valid point. One that I do not know the answer of but something clearly isn't right. Is it waiting for us to make the first move?

"It's just sitting there? Lame. I came here for a challenge, and this is what I get?" Shun speaks but I couldn't really care at the minute. The Aragami must be planning something.  
"Should we shoot it down?" Robin also appears to not know what to do.  
"Don't ask stupid questions! Just do it!" Shun barked in response.

"You should savor the hunt more. More for me, then. Wish granted!" Gina spoke before setting her sights on the beast. We shouldn't act too rashly!  
"Wait! Something's wrong!" Alas, my warning came too late. Gina had shot three bullets towards the beast which eventually moved. It extended its wings and the bullets hit them. It looked as though the beast shook off the attack. Despite Gina's attack, it didn't retaliate.

"Get down from there, feather-face!" I really wish I didn't bring Shun along now, "Come over here and fight me man-to-man! Or, bird-to-man! Whatever!" Shun got his wish as the Aragami rushed towards us at high speeds. High enough speeds that I didn't have time to react as it gripped onto Robin and ascended further into the air with her.

"Robin!" I shouted in shock. I doubt she heard me though seeing as how she was so far up into the air. I could see her fighting against the Aragami and struggling to do so. She mustn't have noticed how far into the air she is. There was nothing I could do to stop the bird. All I could do is follow it. I couldn't risk shooting it since I may hit Robin, although if I do it may bring the beast's attention to me. It sounds like a risk I'll have to take. Robin, I'm sorry if I hit you.

"Robin!" I sprint after the beast and switch my Arc into Gun Form. Unfortunately, I don't have a sniper rifle like Gina so I will need to be a lot closer to the beast before I can fire my bullets. Nevertheless, I have to try but that also means that my results will not be as accurate.

"Gina! Fire at the bird!" I shout to her as she runs along next to me.

"But what about Robin?" She protests.

"It's a risk we'll have to take. We need to bring the Aragami's attention to us." That was all the encouragement she needed as she shot her gun towards the beast. She failed to hit it though and I seen Robin wriggling around to avoid the bullets.

"You have a sniper rifle, right? How come you can't hit it?"

"Shut up! I usually shoot when I'm standing still. It's harder to hit a moving target when you are also moving!" She shouts back, annoyed that she cannot hit the beast. I haven't seen a sadist get angry before so I hope for the life of me that the Aragami pays attention quickly.

A few more minutes later, the beast has finally halted in the air. It wasn't too far away from us so we should be able to bring its attention to-

"Holy Shi-" I shouted as I realised that the beast was quickly descending towards the ground, head first. A fall from that height will kill Robin! Using as much strength as I could muster, I jumped towards the target, trying to intercept it. I deploy my shield at the last second as I make contact with the beast which tried to veer to the side. It couldn't avoid me, however, and bounced off of my shield whilst Robin collided with me into the ground.

"Ow." Was the girl's response at the rough collision.

"Argh! I'll feel that one tomorrow." I groan on the ground. The sudden change in direction and the forcefulness of it had caused more than just a headache to form. There is no doubt that a non-God Eater would have a few broken bones from that fall.

"You two are something else!" and now Shun is going to run his mouth. I noticed that he falls back from combat with the beast and deploy a Restore Post before running back into combat. "Are you sure you're elites? Some elites you are!" Shun speaks mockingly.

"Are you okay?" Robin asks me as she extends a hand to help me up. I take it.

"I'm fine. I just I hit my head on my Arc when that bird rammed me. How about you? That thing didn't hurt you did it?" I asked Robin. I was more concerned with her well-being than mine. Although, the fact that she got up before me means that she isn't too injured.

"Not really." She informs me but another look at her proves otherwise. Her face had turned even whiter than a sheet, as if she had seen a ghost.

"Okay, okay. I did get hurt a little, but I'll be fine in a moment. Come on, we better help." She'll be fine in a moment? What did that mean? Oh yeah, Shun's Restore Post. I notice Robin looking behind her to see the beast floundering around on the ground. Gina is taking advantage of this but she was becoming fatigued. Shun was delivering a few blows to it from behind. It was only a matter of time before the beast would regain its composure. Turning back to Robin, she gives me a little nod and runs towards the Restore Post. I find myself following. After that, we ran back towards the beast.

As we approach the bird, it manages to find its feet. I hadn't noticed before but there were markings on its wings which glowed and the circles of its tails glowed a blue colour as well. It looked to be forming an attack as frost formed at its talons. At least we've now deduced its type. It slashes its wings in our direction and numerous icicles are thrown at us. I noticed this attack too late and felt the brunt of the icicles that scraped across my arms, slowly drawing blood and I shout in anguish as I feel it. I also heard the others' cry of pain. Keeping my eye on the beast, I checked to see if everyone was still in a fighting condition. As I look to Robin, I notice that she has already brushed off her injuries and appears to be fiddling with her God Arc. Whatever she is doing, she'll need support! I switch my Arc to Melee Form and stood in front of her, Shun by my side. It was only seconds later that I felt a little more energised. Robin must have used a healing bullet but I cannot focus on that. The Aragami smashes its balled up claws into the ground. I was able to prepare for this and deployed my shield just as a wave of ice hits my Arc. I lower my Arc after the beast's attack but notice that something isn't right. My shield did not lower. How the hell am I supposed to fight with a broken God Arc?!

"What the hell?! My God Arc's stuck!" Shun shouts. So it isn't broken but what is wrong with it?

"I'm stuck too!" I tell him before getting an idea. Maybe smashing it against a hard surface will help it. I decide to smash it against the ground but it doesn't appear to be working. "I can't change to Gun Form either!" I was unable to do anything. Would I have to continue this fight with only my shield? Well, at least we still have-

"Me too!" Or so I thought. I look to Robin as she shouts.

"My gun is frozen too! I can't change bullets! I think I can still fire my gun though!" Thankfully, at least we have some form of attack with Gina's gun. We could defend as she shoots.

"Good, try to shoot that bird! I'll cover you since I can't fight back. Robin, Shun! Back me up!" I shout, setting up a defensive formation.

"Good idea! We might not be able to fight, but we can still defend!" Robin understood my plan and helped to form this formation.

"Oh my, how noble of you. You're all like my guardians now. That's so sweet~! Do you two practice chivalry?" Gina speaks as if she found our actions cute.

"Shut up and do something, Gina!" I couldn't agree with Shun more, "When this thing thws, that ice-bird's mine!" Shun joins in in our formation and we notice the bird ascending.

"Oh, boo. Why do you have to be so serious, Shun? Whatever, time to hunt!" Gina finally comes to senses with the situation and fires what I notice to be red, Blaze, bullets. Quite fortunate seeing as how the beast is a Freeze-type but I am intrigued as to the effects of the bullets. When they hit the beast, the markings on its wings and tails glow red. I find myself absorbed in this change of colour. That's when the beast decides to charge at us and it covers itself in flames. Is it possible that the beast is both a Freeze and Blaze type?. I raise my shield in preparation and track its movements. I see that Robin, in front of me, dives to the ground for some reason. Allowing me to take the force of the attack. However, for the second time today, my Arc fails me. My God Arc must have thawed due to the beast's flames as it drops, making me take the full, scorching force of the beast. It pummels into me and grabs me by my shoulders with its feet. I find myself being lifted off of the ground and pushed into something very large and hard behind me.

"Gah!" I grunt and prepare to hit the thing with my God Arc. At least, I would have had it not bitten into my shoulder; the pain making me drop my Arc as it continues to maul me.

"Argh!" It digs into my chest as well, seemingly ready for the final kill. I could feel my eyelids drooping.

"Jackal!" I heard Robin shout and could see her spear hit the beast but bounce harmlessly off of it. Thankfully, she had distracted it and it stops digging into my chest. That's definitely going to hurt in the morning. My eyelids had dropped despite ,y desperate attempt to keep them open. I could hear Robin scream angrily and could only hope that the beast hadn't gotten her.

It was getting hard to breathe. I could feel the blood pouring down my arm and chest. I wonder how I look in this condition; covered in blood mustn't be a very good sight. Especially to Robin, I'd hate for her to see me like this but try as I may, I cannot move without great pain.

"Gina! Shun! Jackal! Robin! Come on, somebody answer me!" Hibari's shout through my earpiece was like a screech from hell. It felt as though it has caused my ear to bleed as well. At least, I hope that was blood from my ear that I could feel and not from my head.

"What, Hibari? Stop shouting!" Shun spoke in an annoyed tone. I had attempted to speak but I hadn't the energy to do so.

"Oh, thank goodness! I completely lost your signals for a while! Report in!" Hibari shouted through the earpiece again. Won't somebody please remove it from my ear?! I could feel my breathing becoming even more erratic as the conversation continued.

"We found the Aragami. Too bad it ran though, because that fight was just getting interesting!" Was Gina's response. I could hear my own breathing and knew that it sounded bad. I wouldn't be able to last for much longer.

"What happened out there?! Jackal's vitals are redlining!" Hibari's words were the last I heard.

I hear voices. They burn my ears after each utterance. In between each sentence I could hear some kind of ringing noise. I couldn't quite identify what it was. Despite how long I tried to identify the noise I still couldn't. I am pulled out of my thoughts when I feel something cold on my chest and a sudden rush of electricity shoots through my body. It was painful. Was I still on the battlefield? Had a Vajra joined in the fight? Either way, I am still going to die...

I painfully open my eyes and regret the decision as the bright walls of the infirmary enter my vision. My eyes shut to protect me from the sudden light before I force them open again.

"Jackal!" A feminine voice is heard from beside me. I slowly move my head to the side and see the owner to the voice to also be the owner of emerald green hair.

"Hey Robin." I speak and notice that my voice wasn't the same as it usually is. I see that Robin seemed to be in a roughed up state. It was obvious that she was not okay but I didn't know what was wrong with her.

"How are you feeling?" She asks me and reminds me of the previous events. I move a hand to my chest to feel for my injury. Surprisingly, I felt no pain but I could still feel the mark. I check my right shoulder as well and also feel no pain. I must have been drugged up pretty badly to not feel the pain from these marks.

"Other than this, I feel fine." I gesture to my condition. "I don't feel any pain though. Do you know if they drugged me?" My voice was not the same as it was before but I can't describe how it was different. I just knew it was.

"Erm... Probably, right? So that you don't feel any pain."

"I thought as much." I tell her before returning my sight on the ceiling. I stayed like that for a while before something that Robin said made me speak, but had she been speaking all this time?

"...gami has been named Garuda. A fitting name don't you think?"

"Does it really matter what it's been called. It's a monster, it doesn't need a name. If you're thinking about the name of an Aragami then you are not thinking about how you will kill it." I spoke what was on my mind. Going over those words in my head I could tell I was incredibly blunt about the situation. I turn back to Robin and wait for her response. Her face showed many emotions but I could not identify them.

"Well, I suppose so but we need to make a record of them, don't we? That's how we can prepare for battles with more of that Aragami if they show up in the future." Something about what Robin said caused a switch to go off in my brain and I look back to the ceiling.

"But is there even any point?"

"Huh?" She mustn't have understood my train of thought.

"In fighting Aragami, I mean. It seems that after every battle with a new Aragami, somebody gets injured. When we were against the Tsuchinoko, it was the both of us. When we were against the, now called, Garuda, it was me. Whenever a new Aragami shows up,there are bound to be casualties. It won't be long before there is also a fatality." I look back to Robin and, again, I can't read the emotions on her face.

"There seems to be a never ending swarm of Aragami. I wish we could say that we have eliminated a lot of them but, in reality, despite the amount of God Eaters all over the world there are still a lot more Aragami. New ones that we haven't discovered yet. New powers that we never thought possible, like the Tsuchinoko's invisibility. Mankind is doomed. It always had been and always will be." I finish my speech and try to read the emotions on Robin's face but failed to do so. She got up and left the room in a hurry and I can't help but think if I said something she didn't want to hear.

Two days have passed since the battle with the Garuda, I found out that I woke up eight hours after passing out by one of the medical staff that came to check on me, and ever since our first conversation when I woke up, Robin has not been back to visit me. In fact, my most common visitors were, surprisingly, the other two that went on the mission with me; Shun and Gina. I'm not quite sure why but Gina seemed to be very attached to me over these past few days. It seemed that she checked on me every two hours or so, and each time she visits for about half an hour. When I asked her about it she said that I had changed since the battle and she is fascinated at how I am now. I'm not sure whether this is a compliment or not, either way, it is quite disturbing. It almost feels as though she is conducting experiments on me. She often taunted me during her visits but to be honest, I am thankful for the company. It is times like these that I will miss most of all when I am dead. Especially since I could die tomorrow...

Another two days have passed and I still haven't seen Robin. I was starting to think about the worst. Had she been killed in battle? Was she missing? No, I don't think either of them scenarios are correct. Every time I have asked one of my visitors about Robin they would always say that she will visit me soon but soon never comes.

"Hey, stop staring into space." A voice almost scolds me from beside the bed. I had forgotten that I had a visitor. The provocatively dressed medic of the 1st Unit. I turn my head to the side so I can see her properly.

"I need you to answer these questions. The sooner you do this, the sooner you can get out of here." She tells me and taps her pen against the clipboard a few times. "So, let's continue. Have you been feeling light-headed at any time since you woke up?"

"No."

"Have you been in pain at any time since you woke up?"

"No."

"Good so then the medical staff must treat you whilst you're asleep." Sakuya informs me before turning the page.

"They do what?!" It was more of an exclamation than a question and I see her scribble something down on a sheet of paper. I snatch it from her, ripping the paper into two pieces in the process, and read what it says. Ignoring her protest and moving the paper away from her as she tries to grab it back.

 _Finally shows some form of emotion after a little_. It cuts off there. She hadn't finished writing.

"What were you going to write?" I ask and I can sense that my voice became more rough. I gave her the half a sheet of paper back.

"Sorry but I cannot tell you. It's for your medical records." She gets up promptly and makes her way towards the door. I still wanted to find out what she meant by that and prepared myself to go after her. I swung my legs to the side of the bed and got up quickly. It was only seconds later that I regretted my decision as, after only a few steps, my legs crumbled underneath my weight and I fell to the floor in a heap of agony.

"Gah!" The pain was sudden and sharp. I mustn't have healed properly yet but I was almost thankful for that because every day I am in here means I have managed to live another day. I try a few times to get back up but fail miserably. I must have been here for at least a few minutes trying to get back up. Why did Sakuya have to up and leave? I never got an acceptable answer to my question! I stop writhing around as I hear voices outside of the infirmary.

"I wouldn't go in there right now if I were you, he's not exactly too happy." That was Sakuya's voice! She was still outside! Had he been talking all this time? I wonder if I can get an answer to my question by listening to her conversation. I crawled towards the door so that I could hear better.

"But, he's showing an emotion, right?" It was another female's voice but I couldn't quite make out who it belonged to . It was definitely familiar though.

"Yeah, a breakthrough. Finally. But it isn't the best of times to speak with him. He still isn't his old self. I know how upset you were last time you spoke with him." Sakuya answers the other woman and I wonder what she means by that. Clearly this person has visited me before but I have had quite a few visitors. I could instantly rule out the male visitors like Shun and Lindow because of how feminine the voice sounds but quite a few women have visited me also. Sakuya said that I upset this person the last time they visited me. Who could I have upset? Nobody looked to be upset during their visit. Not Gina, Alisa, Kanon or Robin.

"But if he's finally coming back to his senses maybe all her needs is a little push to return back to how he was." I hear a little shuffling outside and suddenly the owner of this voice seems closer to the door. Whoever it was was wanting to come into here. I have to get back to my bed!

"Well, good luck. You're gonna need it."

"Er... Okay, thanks?" I could hear the doorknob jiggle and I was almost at my bed but I couldn't get onto it in time.

"Jackal!" The familiar voice shouts and rushes to my side, helping me back onto the bed. Why didn't I realise earlier that somebody would be visiting me? As the woman helps me back onto my bed, I see a few flashes of green hair and as I am placed onto my back, I realise that the person that Sakuya was talking to was Robin. It's only been four days since I last heard from her and yet I had already forgotten her voice. That reminds me, I apparently made Robin upset when she last visited me as well. How did that happen?

A few wordless seconds pass by which sees Robin sit down in the chair by my bedside.

"So how have you been?" She was the first to break the silence but she seemed slightly reluctant.

"Other than the occasional pain, I've been fine. How about you? You been on a ton of missions?" I wondered why she hadn't visited me since the first time I woke up. Being on a ton of missions was the only explanation I could find.

"A few. The first one was..." I tuned out as she explained the missions that she went on. I didn't really care.

"I feel sorry for you." I speak, interrupting her rambling.

"Huh? Why's that?"

"Every time you are out there, you are putting your life on the line. If we compare your life to mine, I am more likely to live longer. I'm stuck in the infirmary and therefore don't have to fight for my life, unlike you." I explain to her.

"What?"

"As long as I'm in here, I don't have to..." I attempt to explain to her but she quickly interrupts. Her words leave a lasting effect and she runs out of the infirmary. I had definitely upset her but I didn't mean to. I don't even know how I did.

I wake up a short while later, I hadn't realised that I had went to sleep. I notice that it seems darker than usual and more peaceful. As I come to my senses, I realise that it hasn't gotten darker; instead, I am just covered by the shadows of a few people surrounding me. I manage to make out a medical uniform on each one of them and go to speak.

"Mhm" That's not what I wanted to say. "Mhmh" Why can't I articulate properly? I try to lift my hand up but realise that it is strapped to the bed. I begin to panic and attempt to lift my other hand up and am meet with the same resistance. For some reason, I had been strapped to the bed and my mouth had been covered. I try moving my legs but to no avail. Something wasn't right.

"Mhmhm"

"Will you just shut up. You're making this harder than it needs to be." One of the medical staff speaks. I try to get a better look at them but realise that their faces are covered. Whoever these people are, they didn't want to reveal their identities. One of the staff grabs places a hand on my forehead and presses down, pushing my head into the pillow.

"Hold still." I attempt to fight against the grip but it is too strong. He eventually removes his hand and I see a chance to fight back. Or at least, I would have had it not been for somebody else strapping my head to the bed. What was going on here? I could feel myself beginning to sweat and could feel my heart racing. Whatever was going on, certainly wasn't normal. I could see their mouths moving and could tell they were speaking but I couldn't hear the for the blood rushing to my ears. My eyes dart to each individual as I try to figure out what they are doing. It is only a few seconds later, which feels like hours, before the one closest to me pulls out a long needle from behind their back. The needle must have been at least 10 centimetres long and it was heading towards my eye!

"Now, this might hurt a little but it will hurt even more if you move." The person spoke but that didn't stop me cowering the pillow, trying everything I could to evade the needle. I fail to do so, however, as it plunged into my eye.

"Mhmhmh!" I screamed at the pain and could feel the man quickly take the needle out. The pain felt familiar, as if I had been stabbed in the eye before. A few seconds pass as I think about how familiar the pain is and then it hits me. The realisation that I have been injected in the eyes before, numerous times. I wonder how I could forget such a thing.

"Rbn!" Is all I can scream as I continue to feel the pain and tears stream down my face.

"That should be all his injections for about half a year. I find it funny that he has no idea that his strength comes from all the injections he has had." One of the staff spoke in a masculine voice.

"Should you really be talking about that in front of him?" Another, more feminine, voice spoke.

"It'll be fine. He'll probably forget all about this by the time he wakes up. He'll probably think it is another bad dream." The same man replied before taking the strap off of my head. "Wait until he's asleep before removing his other straps." I feel gag being removed but before I can scream for help, something is placed over my mouth and nose. "It shouldn't be too long with this gas." That's all I hear as, within seconds, my mind clouds over...


	11. Chapter 11

Alpha and Omega - Jackal's Story

Chapter 11

In collaboration with Subzero Dragon. Visit their profile to see the other side of this story. Important events that aren't mentioned here take part in the other side of the story.

My eyes flicker open and the white ceiling of the infirmary comes into view. It takes a few seconds before my eyes can fully adjust to the light but once they do, I look around the infirmary as I try to recall recent events. I remember that something happened to me earlier today but I can't quite remember any details. The only thing I can remember is the pain I felt in my eye. It would be difficult to forget that. It was as if a burning laser had passed through my eyeball, vaporising everything it touches as it moves. It was a burning pain but now, as I move my hand to touch my now closed eye, all I can feel is a slight numbness. It amazes me that the excruciating pain that I felt only hours beforehand now feels as though it has been numbed for surgery. Whatever happened in these antecedent hours, it had caused me to suffer a great deal; to the point where I have subconsciously eradicated the memory of it.

"Listen, today he will be released. He is ready to go back onto the battlefield." An unfamiliar, stern, feminine voice from the other side of the infirmary door stops me from focusing on the pain. Instead, I feel curiosity beginning to overwhelm me. I sit up and look around, noticing that I am the only "he", in fact, the only _one_ in the infirmary.

"So, I am being released?" I ask myself and wonder what brought this about. After all, the last time I checked, I was unable to walk. I better see if I can before being released, but does that mean that I have to go back out into the wild and fight those monsters again? I move my legs so that they are swinging over the side of the bed and press my weight onto them. I make sure to do this slowly as, despite the fact that I have been well fed whilst cooped in this room, I have mostly been lying down so the sudden pressure on my legs could cause me to stumble. I lift myself off of the bed as I allow my entire weight to rest on my feet. I am a bit wobbly at first, like a new born deer, and brush aside a few stumbles before I am walking perfectly fine, indicated by pacing the floor, without fail, around the infirmary.

"See? He already looks to be doing better." In my fascination at my sudden recovery speed, I failed to notice the door opening and a few people walking into the infirmary, so I am very surprised when I hear the stern woman's voice and almost stumble over my feet again. Luckily, I manage to correct my footing and look to my observers. The tallest figure leads the pack of three that have come to visit me, or in fact, release me from the infirmary.

"Good morning, Jackal." The woman holds a judging look in her eyes as she speaks to me. I know that I have seen this woman before but I am not entirely sure when I have. The first thing I notice about the woman, other than her eyes whether you believe it or not, was the massive balloons that she is in possession of. Her clothing consists of a white Fenrir sniper uniform that reveals a large amount of cleavage and her similarly coloured trousers reveal part of her thighs. She may not be the most provocatively dressed in this branch but she definitely fills out her clothing. Behind her, I see two of the people that accompanied me on a mission to track down the golden Aragami that caused my injuries. They are the Old Types, Gina and Shun. Whilst Gina has, what appears to be a, mischievous smile on her face, Shun's face looks far from happy.

"You shouldn't keep a woman waiting, Jackal." The leader of the pack speaks with a much more stern tone.

"Oh, sorry. Good morning..." I still couldn't give a name tag to the person in front of me.

"Ms. Amamiya." She reminds me of her name. "Well Jackal, you are now free to leave the infirmary. You are ready to enter the field of battle once again." I can't go back out there to fight! There's got to be some way I can stay here and prolong my life! Ah ha!

"Aah! My legs! Aah!" I fall to the floor and feign an injury, I hope that they believe it and allow me to stay here in the branch a little while longer. I clench my eyes, clutch my leg and begin rolling around on my back just to add more effect. This continues for a few seconds before I open one of my eyes to see a smirk on Shun's face, a more mischievous almost sadistic smirk on Gina's and a displeased expression on Ms. Amamiya's.

"Well, I guess he can't come on the mission with us after all." Shun says with a flick of his hand. It looks like I've managed to convince him. Hopefully, he will try to convince the other two.

"Nonsense!" Ms. Amamiya's shout echoes through the room and I cover my ears to protect from such a loud noise, clenching my eyes shut and turning away from the group in the process. A few seconds later, I take my hands away from ears and unclench my eyes. Something which I hadn't done now as I voice whispers into my ear at very close range.

"Oh, you look so weak and helpless. Just like my prey is before the finishing blow." There was no denying that this sadistic voice belonged to Gina and it instantly got me up onto my feet.

"You know what, I think I've miraculously recovered." I speak as Gina also gets to her feet, having gotten onto her knees to whisper in my ear. She now stands less than 30 centimetres away from me.

"It's a miracle!" She says with a wide smile on her face, with no attempt at hiding her sarcasm.

"Hallelujah." Shun chipped in with a much less happy face.

"That was a disgraceful display, Jackal. You had given me a better impression of you on the first time we met." Tsubaki clearly wasn't amused by my attempt to stay in the infirmary.

After an hour long scolding of what it means to be a God Eater and protecting the citizens as well as fellow God Eaters, Shun, Gina and I are headed to the Tranquil Temple for an "easy" mission. Let me tell you how easy the mission is. It consists of killing two Fallen Kongou and two Gboro-Gboro. Easy, right?

"My first day back and I'm already being pitted against 4 medium sized Aragami." I give an exasperated sigh and slouch into the helicopter seat.

"You know, you haven't been very enthusiastic lately. You're not like you were in our last mission. Although," A smirk appears on Shun's face, "I suppose you did let yourself get beat up pretty bad last time. It shows how weak you are as a God Eater." I choose not to respond to Shun, mainly because I was too lethargic to do so but this brought Gina into the conversation.

"Well," As she speaks, I turn my head in her direction. "Maybe your little accident was for the better. You seem a lot more tolerable of Shun."

"Hey! You say that as if I have bad qualities!" He didn't take to kindly to her comment but I think over her words as the two start bickering. Have I really been more tolerable of Shun? Or is it just because I decided to ignore him? Either way, engaging in an argument is needless. It won't get us anywhere and will only make me exhausted before we even fight the Aragami. Having just gotten back onto my feet, I'm going to need all the energy I can muster up; meaning I have not time to waste energy. I look out the window and watch as the landscape moves ever so quickly. I breathe a fatigued sigh. I'm not looking forward to this mission. I may not even return alive. I almost didn't the last time.

15 minutes later and we've landed on the ground, scouring in and around the Tranquil Temple for any signs of Aragami lifeforms. It isn't too long before we come across the first monster to be slain.

"I'm picking up a Gboro-Gboro signal near your location." I hear Hibari though my earpiece and silently thank her. Since Hibari is keeping a lookout on ours, and the Aragami's, signals it should be easier to avoid being attacked by surprise.

"So, who's boss on this mission?" We never really established who it was before. Surely it cannot be me. I've just recovered from a trip to the infirmary. They can't expect me to lead.

"I'm the leader." The two of them speak in unison before realising they did causing them to cast each other a glare.

"You know, you should have decided this before we even left the Den." I give a weary sigh and hold my head in one of one my hands.

"The Aragami is moving!" Hibari's new information cuts the lovers quarrel between Shun and Gina.

"Can you predict where it is heading?" I ask, being the only one with any sense on the team. We walk by the place where it was first confirmed to be and see the corpse of another Gboro-Gboro.

"Well, that's one of our targets down. I guess we'll be able to get home quicker." I speak in a quiet voice in an attempt to convince myself that I'll be home soon and have survived another day.

"It seems to be retreating. I'm not picking up any other signatures in the area. It would be best to chase after it." Hibari informs us with a confused tone but we do decide to chase after the Gboro-Gboro. I, too, am confused. I was told that this mission would pit us against a total of four Aragami and yet, only one signature is being picked up. I find it perplexing but satisfying. It means that I will have four times the amount of time to myself than I would have if we did have to defeat the four Aragami.

"Hey, just a thought but, Gina, you use a sniper rifle, right?" Something had come to mind. We didn't have to run after the beast, we just need to make our presence known to it.

"Yeah, what of it?" Gina asks as she has no idea what I am planning. We continue chasing after the Aragami but I come to a stop, halting my team mates as we do so.

"Hey! We need to keep moving!" I ignore Shun's protests and continue speaking to Gina.

"Can't you just shoot the thing from here to grab its attention. It can't be more than 30 metres away."

"Yeah, good thinking Jackal!" Gina commends my thought process before taking aim at the beast that is slowly moving further away.

"This had better work, otherwise we'll have to run a hell of a lot faster to catch it." Shun complains but ignoring him is almost second nature now. I continue to observe Gina as she gets the Aragami in her sights.

"All right you overgrown alligator, time to go do-"

"-Rrrrrrr!" The sudden roar of the Aragami interrupts Gina and causes Shun and I to look in its direction. The beast falls to the ground with a large hole that must have been one metre in diameter.

"Nice shot, Gina!" Shun commends his team mate but her reaction is what concerns me.

"Yeah, I didn't even hear you fire the bullet. Although, if your bullets can do that, I may want to look over their recipes." I speak with a smile.

"I didn't fire a bullet." She responds in a shocked tone. It surprises Shun and I.

"What?! So, how the hell did that beast suddenly have a massive hole in it?" The other male member of the team voices the question that lingers on my mind. I see that Gina has returned to looking through the sniper rifle.

"Whatever it is will be tasting my bullets!" She exclaims as she tries to identify our new target. A few seconds of silence later and she speaks up.

"Let's play a game."

"We don't have time for-"My complaint is cut short by Gina continuing.

"What Aragami that we know of is capable of inflicting deep wounds?" Her question is entirely too broad.

"Surely every Aragami has the capability-"

"How many of them have golden feathers and can lock our God Arcs with its ice attacks?" She almost seems to be singing now. The colour drops from my face as soon as I realise what she is talking about. The same beast that caused me to end up in the infirmary for days on end. The Garuda...

I turn towards where the Gboro-Gboro was slaughtered and see a familiar set of golden feathers encircling its prey.

"We've got to get out of here!" I demand, "There's no way the three of us can fight this beast by ourselves."

"This could be our only chance to take it down. Imagine the money we'd get for bringing back a core like that. We'll be rolling in the money for weeks!" Shun seems very excited and I can more than assume Gina is as well. I look towards her and see that she is still looking down the sight at the beast.

"As much as I hate to say it, Shun is right. We could really boost the Outer Aragami Wall's defences if you can bring back its core." Hibari's voice reminds us of her presence.

"But the three of us can't bring it down!" I refuse to give up on getting my point across, "In case you forgot, I almost died the last time we faced it!" I shout angrily to my team mates and Hibari, attempting to hide my own fear. I'm not sure how that went.

"I didn't forget. Don't worry, I plan to send more God Eaters your way. There is currently a team not too far from your location. Once they have finished, I'll give them your coordinates and they will help you all." Hibari explains her actions but I am still unsure about this while thing.

"How long will it take the other team to arrive?" I ask nervously. I hate to think about the time that we will have to hold out for when facing the monster.

"I'll send a helicopter right now to pick them up. Once on the helicopter, I predict it will take 15 minutes for them to arrive." Her answer doesn't fill me with much hope.

"So can we just wait until they arrive before we atta-"

"BOOM! RIGHT IN THE WING!" The ecstatic shout from Gina frightens me. She has already declared war on the monster that almost ended my life...

Seconds after Gina fired the shot, which missed the encircling monster might I add contrary to what Gina thought, the three of us soon find ourselves having to rapidly move away from our spots as the Garuda charges at us in a veil of ice. I fall to the side as I narrowly avoid it but feel a slight coldness breeze by me. I look at my side and can see that a small block of ice had fallen onto my clothing. It falls off after a quick shake of my clothing.

"I'll get you this time!" The enthusiastic shout from Shun as he sprints towards the monster with his God Arc in a ready-to-attack fashion distracts me from the ice that had fallen to the floor.

"The three of us shouldn't be fighting this thing!" There were four of us during our last encounter with the beast and that nearly ended in disaster. Now we are one God Eater down. This will not end well.

"Stop being a p***y and start helping us!" Gina shouts, annoyed, as she runs by me in an attempt to shoot the beast from close range.

"But there's no chance we will win!" I protest in anger and fear. I didn't want to put my life on the line again.

"We have even less chance if you don't help us!" Gina was able to direct how annoyed she was at me whilst keeping her sadistic gaze on the Aragami. I hate to say it but she is right. If I don't help them fight then it will be two versus one. That means that they could suffer even worse injuries than I did when there were four of us. With a heavy sigh and a silent whimper, I set about helping my team mates.

As we fight, I can feel the fear making my legs tremble and my arms shaking furiously. This greatly affects my aim and I am very thankful that Shun is the only other Melee type God Eater on the team. He seems nimble on his feet so I don't need to be cautious of his whereabouts when attacking. Although, that doesn't stop him from complaining about it time and time again. It is another five minutes before we make any sort of noticeable dent to the beast. We managed to remove its wing bonds which have locked it into using one attribute; Freeze. There is more than just the three of us now. Hibari managed to send in three more people from the Defence Unit; Tatsumi, Brendan and Kanon. It's a good job we have a medic on the field. One of us may need her abilities. So now, there are six of us and I guess it is true what they say, "safety in numbers". I can feel myself beginning to calm down because of this. I think we can actually defeat this Garuda.

"It looks like it is charging another Gliding Freeze attack!" Tatsumi shouts as the bird Aragami gets into a common pose for this battle. Tatsumi hasn't even been here for a whole 5 minutes and yet, he can tell when the Aragami is taking its position for an attack. I guess that's the type of thing an experienced veteran like him can do.

"Everyone, split up!" Tatsumi commanded. It's great to finally have someone on the team that can take charge. I turn at a 90o angle and start running. I understand Tatsumi's thinking. If we are split up then there is less chance for us all to be hit by the Garuda's Freeze attack. I turn my head to see who the Aragami has targeted. Thankfully, it wasn't me but the person who it was, Shun, is out of commission. He appears to be knocked out and the beast is trying to take advantage of that. I run in its direction. Thankfully, Shun didn't run too far away from me and I manage to get there before Shun has suffered any serious injury. I swipe my scythe between the beast and Shun to grab its attention before I decide to make a few swipes at its exposed neck. Surprisingly my swipes manage to draw blood. I would begin to feel a bit happy about this had it not been for the Garuda's instant reply.

"Gah!" I shout as it sharply pierces my right shoulder. I can feel my blood begin to stain my clothing but that is the least of my worries at the minute. It seems that the beast has decided that I am now its focus and it effortlessly brushes off the bullets from the other God Eaters that are trying to help me. My grip on my Arc begins to weaken due to the sweat my hands are producing as I stare into the eyes of the beast as it expands its wings, boasting its large wingspan.

The next few seconds pass over as if they were one. I find myself being dragged into the air by the beast that has a hard grip on my shoulders. My fear levels increase and I almost drop my Arc completely. Had it not been my last hope to survive then I would have definitely dropped it. The God Eater's on the floor were quickly getting smaller and smaller. Is this what Robin felt like? I ask myself as I am reminded that she was in a similar situation. Speaking of which, where is she? No! I can't think about her whereabouts right now! I need to focus on making this beast let go! I take a better grip of my God Arc and angle it, with great difficulty, towards the beast's neck where I had targeted earlier. Seeing as how its feet are occupied with me and its wing as occupied with flying, it has no defence. I begin slashing at the beast's neck and can feel it penetrate the Aragami's skin. After one more, deep, slash the hold on my shoulders is released and I begin plummeting towards the ground. All I can do is look down as the ground gets gradually closer. I look around for any sign that I can survive this fall but cannot find any. I am unsure as to how my friends below me can help me now and, even looking around and noticing four more God Eaters catching up with the group, I see that there is nothing they can do at all. It's a shame really, if my life wasn't in danger, I ould have really enjoyed this freefall. It makes me feel very light and the wind against my hair feels great. Almost all of my fears have disappeared. I dare to say that I would enjoy this. Nevertheless, if I am to die here, I better make sure that it at least looks like I didn't just give up. I drag my God Arc under me with a great struggle and attempt to deploy my shield. I hope that this would help ease my impact against the ground but I realise that this is not an option. My God Arc is stuck! I notice that towards the tip of my scythe, the Aragami remains impaled against it! A blue liquid had been falling down by scythe from it and had frozen my Arc's mechanisms. It was lucky that I had moved my Arc when I had otherwise the freezing liquid would have dropped onto my head, freezing it. I can only continue to look down at the pained expression of the Aragami as I continue my plummet to the ground. I am going to die on my first outing since I was released from the infirmary. I am descending to my death. This is exactly why I didn't want to become a God Eater!


	12. Chapter 12

Alpha and Omega - Jackal's Story

Chapter 12

In collaboration with Subzero Dragon. Visit their profile to see the other side of this story. Important events that aren't mentioned here take part in the other side of the story.

The next thing I know, I wake up in a place that is almost my second home. I've been here often enough to call it that. It seems like I'm always injured on a mission and I often escape with my life. This time though, I have no idea how I did. All I can remember is that I was falling rapidly; the next thing I know, I am staring at the white washed ceiling of the infirmary. Something that makes this time feel different from the last time I was in the infirmary is that I don't feel injured at all. Nor do I feels as though I have suffered any brain damage. So why am I in here then? I sit up upon asking myself this question and hear a familiar scratching sound near me. Looking for the source, I identify it as the only other person in the room writing in a notepad.

"It's about time you woke up, Jackal." Sakuya seems to have a joke about my current predicament. I may have laughed with her if I knew what it was that put me in here for the umpteenth time.

"What happened this time?" I ask with a bit of humour in my voice. This seems to put Sakuya in a good mood. She must be glad that I got her joke about not being a stranger to the infirmary.

"You hit your head pretty badly. You should ask Robin for more details. She didn't tell me everything." Sakuya had a wide smile on her face as she told me this. "You didn't immediately fall unconscious after falling through the air though. That's all I'll tell you."

Why would Robin have more details? Was she one of the people that Hibari called in for help? I suppose that must have been the case.

"I guess I'll have to talk to her about it." I speak my intentions before a new thought crosses my mind. "What happened to the Garuda?" I was intrigued. I knew that I had managed to hurt it, albeit after enough hits but I can't remember what happened to it.

"The Aragami? Tatsumi managed to extract its core. He said that it was because you had injured it that they were able to." Sakuya informs me and I feel happy to know that I could help to extract he core of such a beast. Now, if only I could do the same for the Tsuchinoko. I lean back onto the bed with my arms behind my head.

"So how long have I been out for?" I attempt to make small talk.

"A few hours." Sakuya speaks in her usual tone before taking a glance at me on the bed. "You only suffered a minor head injury, you know. You were supposed to be dismissed as soon as you left." She must have noticed how comfortable I was getting on the bed as she seems to almost scold me.

"Why didn't you say that earlier?" I ask and push myself off of the infirmary bed. Sakuya doesn't answer my question but I wasn't expecting her to.

"Do you know where Robin is? I want to ask her about what happened." I ask Sakuya with the hopes that she knows of Robin's whereabouts.

"I have no idea." She exhales, moving herself so that she rests a hand on her hip. "Why don't you check her room to start with?" It's as good an idea as any. With my thanks, I leave the infirmary and head to the lift to reach our rooms.

When I reached her room, I gave a few knocks on the door but was met with no answer. I tried again.

"Robin?" A few more knocks follow me voice but, again, there is no response.

"Guess you're not in your room then." I sigh wearily before moving to the opposite side of the corridor to reach my own room.

"I haven't been here for a while." I remember that I was stuck in the hospital for a while and as soon as I was released I was forced onto a mission. So it has been a while since I was here. I look around my room and retake all of the details in. It's a pretty generic room really. Just the way I like it. After all, I'll only be in here to sleep. The walls have been painted blue, the bed has a standard white duvet and the only other items of furniture are a few chest of drawers which are a standard wooden brown and a table in the middle of the room with the same colouring. I walk over to my bed and lie down on it for a while.

"Where could you have went, Robin?" I stare at my ceiling as I think of all the possible places she could be.

"It's possible that she is on a mission. I should probably ask Hibari if that's the case." Now that I have a short term plan, it's time to act upon it.

"Then again, it is pretty late. I can wait until tomorrow to hear what happened on the rest of the mission." I reason with myself. If Robin had went on another mission then she would probably head straight to her room so she could rest. I should pay her an early visit tomorrow. With this in mind, I attempt to get to sleep. Of course, since I've been thinking about running into her tomorrow it takes a while before I do fall asleep but before too long I drift off.

A sudden, loud bang awakes me from my sleep.

"What the hell was that?" I speak my thoughts and take a look to the digital clock on one of my chest of drawers. It reads as 08:45. My eyes widen as I realise that the early visit I was planning doesn't seem very likely now. I know that Robin is an early riser so I was hoping to catch her by the time she left her room, but she would have already been up and about by now. Why can't I be an early riser for just one day? Getting up from my bed after shedding the feeling to stay in it to keep warm, I head to my chest of drawers to find today's clothes.

"I should probably have more variation with these. I'm starting to get tired of seeing the same clothes every day." The tone of my voice becomes slightly more wistful as I pull out an outfit identical to the one I have on now in every way. The only difference being that the one I am currently wearing is dirty. I change into my clothes and dump my dirty ones to one side,

"I'll have to remember to wash them clothes soon." I voice my future plans but right now, I plan on finding Robin and where better to start than her room. Hopefully she has, for once, slept in, or at the very least is still in her room.

For the second time in less than 18 hours, I find myself standing in front of Robin's door, waiting for her to answer my knocks and calls.

"Robin? You in there?" I am met with the familiar sound of silence as a response.

"Damn it." I was starting to get annoyed now. "Guess I'll just have to find you then." I give a sigh as I really didn't want to hunt all over the Den to find Robin. With a scratch of my head, I set off to the lift.

"I should check in with Hibari first in case Robin went on a mission." I voice my thoughts. I seem to be doing that a lot lately.

I walk up to Hibari's desk, noticing that she appears to be occupied with somebody else. I can't quite identify the person from behind. I hear part of the one-sided conversation the man seems to be having with Hibari and recognise the voice from yesterday's mission.

"Hey, come on. You know I'll pay for it all right. After all, that's the man's job during a date." The voice I recognise turns out to be Tatsumi's and it sounds like he has asked Hibari on a date. I look to Hibari to see if she will respond. I find myself having to force back a smile as I notice her discomfort. I decide to save her and speak up.

"Hey Hibari, have you seen Robin around?" The two of them turn towards me as I speak. Hibari appears relieved that the conversation has ended but Tatsumi doesn't share the same feeling.

"Hey! We're trying to having a conversation." Tatsumi speaks with an annoyed expression on his face. Clearly he didn't know that he was making Hibari uncomfortable. Or maybe he did and was hoping that Hibari would crack under the pressure. I didn't know Tatsumi was like that. Maybe I should keep an eye on him.

"Clearly." I give a simple response before turning to Hibari, waiting for her to answer.

"Hey! You can't just brush me off! You interrupted us!" He was starting to get angry now. "You should apologise!" I ignore his protests. I don't really care for arguing and I'd hate to create a scene and make more people become involved but that doesn't mean I wasn't beginning to feel angry as well.

"Have you, Hibari?"

"No, she hasn't accepted a mission yet, or been a part of someone else's mission. She should still be in the Den if you're looking for her." She answers quickly. It was clear that she didn't want the situation between Tatsumi and I to escalate.

"There's your answer. Now, leave and let Hibari and I continue our discussion." He leans against the counter as if ready to begin the one-sided conversation again. The object of his infatuation doesn't pay him any attention though as she continues speaking.

"Actually, Alisa enlisted you onto a mission which starts in about 10 minutes."

"Has Robin also been enlisted?" I ask her, impatiently. If Robin had been enlisted then I won't need to search around the Den for her. I could just ask her about the after-events of my memory when we're on the mission.

"No, she hasn't." That was all I needed to hear before I decided to leave. "Wait, where are you going?!" Hibari shouts after me. It sounded as though she was surprised that I'd leave like that. To be honest, I am too. I feel a forceful hand on my shoulder, forcing me to turn around to meet its owner. It just so happens to belong to the angry Tatsumi.

"Hibari hadn't finished talking to you!"

"I thought you wanted me to leave so you could continue to crash and burn with Hibari." I speak with a sly smile and my words make him stumble. He wasn't expecting that.

"Speaking from experience are we?" He doesn't appear angry anymore. Instead, he has a sly smile that mirrors mine although mine dropped upon hearing his question.

"What?" I had no idea what Tatsumi was talking about but my response only proved to amuse him.

"So you can give it out but you can't take it? Ha!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about Tatsumi." I speak with a confused expression marred on my features. I think Tatsumi may have finally cracked under the pressure of leading a team so many times.

"Look, just because you didn't fare very well it doesn't mean that others will as well." I still have no idea what Tatsumi is talking about. "I've been in your position a few times so I know how it feels. You've just got to get over it." His mood seems to have taken a 180o turn as speaks to me with what I deduce to be a knowing smile as he pats me on the shoulder.

"Tatsumi," His smile drops as I speak, "You should probably get your head checked out in the infirmary. I have no idea what you're talking about." With that said, I enter the lift, ignoring Tatsumi's claims of me being in denial.

My next destination is the infirmary. I'm only going here to make sure that she hadn't been in some strange accident since yesterday. I was beginning to feel a bit of worry that I have been unable to find her so I'll go to the infirmary, realise she isn't there, then allow myself to calm down since nothing bad has happened to her. I open the door to the infirmary and take a look around for the green haired girl that occupies my thoughts. I don't see Robin in here and breathe a sigh of relief. In fact, I can't see anyone in here.

"I didn't think you would visit me." A sudden voice alerts me to the fact that there is, in fact, somebody in here. I turn my head to the right and see a familiar head of dirty blonde hair and a pink shirt. I realise now that it is Karel. I wonder how I didn't see him there. Did my mind subconsciously block out his presence?

"Are you going to keep staring or are you going to talk?" He speaks. There's something different about him though. He doesn't appear to be speaking in his usual tone. I wonder if something is wrong with him.

"Why are you in here?" I ask, not moving away from the door frame. I didn't intend on staying here long.

"I'm not going to dignify a stupid question with a response." There's the disdain that I know Karel for.

"You know what? I don't want to argue with you today, I'm leaving." Or at least I would have had he not called out to me,

"Jackal, wait. I want to talk to you." He sounded tired but I didn't really care.

"Really? I can't say I share the same wants." Again, I attempt to leave but find myself unable to. I find myself becoming a bit worried for Karel. He does know that we hate each other's guts so why would he want me to stay with him.

"Come on, Jackal. I'm trying to be civil here." I admit that this behaviour is really unlike Karel. Whatever he wants me for must be important if he wants me, of all God Eaters here, to listen to what he has to say. I reluctantly move so that I am sitting at his bedside.

"I'm listening." Is all I can say to him. I was genuinely intrigued as to why he wants to speak to me but I can't let on that I want to hear what he has to say. This is Karel we're talking about, after all. He'll probably find some way to annoy me in the future. He gives a reluctant sigh. Clearly this is taking as much energy out of him as it is taking our of me. He lies back onto his bed before speaking.

"I was on night-shift last night, patrolling the walls after an Aragami was sighted nearby." He begins and I come to realise that I didn't even know that night-shift was even a thing for God Eaters.

"I defeated the Aragami but took a heavy blow. The thing is, I usually take the night-shift jobs because they offer the most money but now, I'm going to be out injured for a few days." Well, he still sounds like Karel, still only after the money. I didn't get why he was telling me this though.

"So I can't do the night-shift jobs. I don't know how often you've tried pulling an all-nighter but if a night-shift job comes up, do you think you can handle it?" Karel asks me and it looks as though it pained him to do so. Quite frankly, I feel like refusing him. I do like to sleep you know.

"You should know that I've already asked Shun and Gina but they're unable to do it." So even his friends don't want to help him, why should I?

"Why should I help you? You have been nothing but a pain in the arse ever since I arrived at the Far East."

"Listen, I know we don't always see eye-to-eye but if an Aragami manages to destroy part of the Anti-Aragami Wall, then there will be a lot of casualties." I suppose Karel is right.

"Are you trying to guilt trip me?" I still couldn't help feeling the animosity between us despite the situation.

"Jackal." He begins and rises from his bed in pain, "please." Well, Karel must be serious to start showing me some manners despite how much it hurts him to use them.

"Okay, Karel. I'll accept the night-shifts for a few days but you owe me one." I had to let him know that I was only doing this so that I would gain the advantage in our 'battles'.

"Sure, Jackal." Was his exasperated response and with that, I left the infirmary.

I had no idea where Robin could be. After I left the infirmary, I had checked a few other places including the cafeteria, training room and God Arc Storage Area but couldn't find her. The place I hadn't checked was the roof. Once the lift stops at my destination, I leave it and start wandering around the roof. I notice that one of the helicopter's propellers are turning quickly. My only thought about that is that it must be getting ready to take off. I know that Robin didn't have a mission planned so I don't bother checking inside the helicopter and continue walking on the roof. The sun's rays almost burn my exposed skin as I walk.

"It's very hot today."

"Hm? Jackal?" I hear Robin's voice and it seems as though she has noticed me. "I didn't think you were one to relax on the roof." I'm not sure if she is genuinely surprised to see me or is just trying to be funny.

"Robin!" I shout as I finally find her around the other side of the lift, back against the wall, green hair flowing over her shoulders with her sketch pad resting on her lap. "I've been trying to find you since yesterday." I feel relieved that I've finally found her and slump down next to her.

"Ha ha, really?" Her laugh didn't sound genuine.

"Well, you know, I fell asleep obviously." I say sheepishly with a hand scratching my head.

"Of course you did." She smiles before returning to the same tone as before, "So why were you looking for me?" Robin speaks, I notice her inching away from me as she does so. Now that she mentions it, I was so hooked on trying to find Robin that I forgot why I was supposed to find her. My eyes widen in realisation.

"Damn it. I was so hooked on finding you that I forgot the reason why I wanted to." I move my fingers to my head as I try to remember.

Five minutes of silence pass by and I still can't remember my reason for finding her. I give an exasperated sigh and give up,

"Never mind, I'll remember eventually." I look to her and notice that she has moved about two metres away from me. Why? I don't know.

"So, you were drawing something?"

"Hm? Yeah, yeah, just the scene from up here." She speaks and we continue to make small talk for a while until,

"So how are you since you got out of the infirmary?" She asks me.

"Well, I've been fine. I woke up and found Sakuya was in the infirmary too."

"Was she injured? Hurt?" Robin panicked at that. I had inadvertently worried her.

"No, no, no, don't worry. She was checking up on me. When I woke up she told me to... find you and... ask about what happened yesterday." I had finally remembered what it was that I was trying to find Robin for.

"Ha ha, oh really?" There was that laugh again. I wonder if something is troubling her.

"Is something up?" The concern in my voice must have been present as she began to look a bit guilty.

"No, why do you ask?" Was she nervous?

"Well, you've been inching away from me for a while now. You've already reached the edge of this wall. I'm pretty sure that you're already turning to inch along the other wall as well. Did I do something wrong?" That was the only definition I could find. I must have done something wrong for her to move away from me like that

"What? No, no, no, no. I -"

"Well, how about I make it up to you?" I interrupted her as I got up from my sitting position to walk closer to her. She appears to tense up as I approach. "How about we have dinner together? Just the two of us." I beam a wide smile at her. My offer seems to startle Robin. She hadn't been expecting me to say that. Maybe I should have went with something more 'me', like making a competition and the winner getting a mochi ice cream. I cut short my musing and wait for the girl to respond.

"I... Um... I don't think... that's a good idea." Poor Robin, she must be nervous. I'm not sure why though, she likes food, right? I thought she'd probably jump at the chance to have some for free.

"Come on, Robin. It's not as if I'm asking you to accompany me for a candle-lit dinner for two." I tease her before a mischievous smile crosses my face. "Or is that what you'd prefer?"

"Wha?" I have to withhold a laugh at her embarrassed expression. Instead, I beam my mile at her,

"You haven't said no." I tease her again, making sure to come closer to her as I do so. I have a plan for this to work. Maybe we won't have a candle-lit dinner but at least we can have a dinner. All of this talk has made me feel pretty hungry and I'd like the company. Besides, it kinda feels like Robin had been avoiding me.

"Wha? Then n-"

"Perfect!" I cut her off as I pick her up onto her feet and begin dragging her into the lift, by gripping her shoulders and pushing her towards the lift, placed around the other side of the wall. I thought she would refuse so I had to do something. Mind you, that doesn't mean that she isn't protesting now.

"Get off of me, Jackal!" I can't quite identify the tone in her shout. Maybe she's angry, maybe she's upset, or maybe, just maybe, she's secretly begging for food. A growl from my stomach tells me that I am.

It took a while but, eventually, Robin did comply with the free dinner. Of course, if we want to be somewhere private that means that we'll have to sneak our food out of the cafeteria since it's probably crowded and there is a high chance that somebody would walk in on us, therefore making it not very private.

"Wait in my room. Feel free to 'freshen up'." I speak teasingly and give her a smirk, ignore whatever she says in response. I had just unlocked the door to my room as I said that. I think about locking it but that probably wouldn't be very safe. What if something dangerous happened, like a fire and she was locked in. Anyway, best not to make myself depressed if I am to sneak two trays of dinner back to my room. I have no idea how much this is going to cost me. I can only hope I received some sort of sick pay for the multiple times I was in the infirmary.

Opening the door to the cafeteria, I see a few faces chowing down at the food on their trays. They pay attention only to their food and nothing more, something which I am thankful for. It will allow for me to easily sneak the food out, at least I hope it will. Before I take the two trays, I analyse the cafeteria to make my plan. First of all, the trays are stacked near the doors, allowing incomers to take their trays straight away and head to the service counter. Speaking of which, the service counter is situated about five metres away from the doors. It is almost like a big cuboid with one of its faces being the viewing window. The surrounding areas inside the cuboid are filled with cooking equipment. Looking around once more, I notice a few deserted tables near me. So the plan is made. I simply have to get the food, and make it look like I will be sitting at one of the deserted tables near the cafeteria doors. Now, to enact it.

I take two trays from the rack before proceeding to the viewing window. I hadn't noticed before but these trays are pretty bland. Just red and patternless. Well, I have no time to dwell on details, I have a mission. Walking to the viewing window, I see nobody ready to serve me. I give a loud cough into my hand to attract the attention of anybody that may be there. There's no doubt in my mind that the people already tucking into their meals probably glanced at me as I did so but I don't pay attention to it.

"Roy! Another customer!" One of the people from behind me shout and I hear some shuffling noises from behind. I rotate my head so that I can attempt to thank the person but as I do so, I realise that nobody is looking in my direction, therefore I don't know who to thank. I mumble my thanks though, hopefully the person will hear it.

"Yeah." This word and a grunt brings my attention to the one I now know as Roy. "What d'ya want?" Looking at the man, he doesn't look like he should be a chef. The bald head, stern look, as well as a large, hair figure makes the man look very unpresentable. Even his speech makes me think that I won't get along with him.

"What do you have?" I ask him, almost fearing angering the man. If a fight were to break out, I don't think I would win. I would give it my best shot though.

"See for ya sel'" He gestures to the food presented behind the counter but within eye sight. The food looks great. There is an assortment of colours and numerous dishes I could choose from. There is such a wide choice that I have no idea what to get. Come to think of it, I should have asked Robin what she wanted.

"I'll take two scoops of that please." I point my finger to what looks like roasted potatoes and move my finger to point at another thing that looks like some kind of meat. "As well as two scoops of that."

"Two?!" The man bellows and I take a reflective step back. This gives him time to see the two trays in my hand. "Whatcha wantin' two fer?!" The man asks with a questioning gaze and I feel like I'm being scrutinised. I rack my brain for an answer.

"I'm ordering for a friend as well." I try to put on my most convincing smile. I hadn't anticipated that the chef would ask why I need two lots of food. Damn! I should have thought of that!

"er yeah? What's wrong with 'im? Why can't they order for themsel'?" He wasn't buying my answer. To be fair, I did give a true answer. I am ordering for a friend.

"She" I emphasised her gender, "has just been released from the infirmary. I want to surprise her with the meal." I gain more confidence as I speak, hoping that the he has a soft spot for injured women. Silence passes over us for a few seconds which feel like hours as the chef mulls over my answer, locked into a tight staring competition with me. He doesn't say another word as he takes the trays and adds my choices to both of them. I notice he adds another helping of something to one of the trays. It looks to be some kind of vegetables. I get a better look as he hands both trays back to me.

"This is" he slightly raises the tray with the vegetables on, "for the girl." I smile in response and thank him for the food. I do feel a bit guilty that I had to lie to get him to give us the food but it's all for the greater good. I take the trays and sit to the deserted table closest to the cafeteria doors. I look back to see that the chef is glancing in my direction. His gaze remains on me for a while.

"Aren't ya gonna eat?" He asks with a looks of suspicion on his face.

"I prefer to wait for my friend before I eat." I speak the first excuse that comes to mind and hope that it will sate his curiosity. A minute or two passes before he returns to the confines of his cafeteria. By now, the food has probably become quite a bit colder so, taking the chance, I grab both trays, turn my back to the cafeteria door and push against it, sending it wide open.

After stealthily manoeuvring around the Den, I managed to come across my room without anybody seeing me or the two trays of food in my hands. Come to think of it, I'm glad I didn't lock the door now as I would be unable to open it whilst holding our dinner. I manage to bend my elbow so that I can open the door with it and enter the room, using my foot to close the door whilst I make sure not to drop the food. I look towards the middle of my room to see Robin there, looking uncomfortable. I wonder why that is.

"Here you are milady. A scrumptious looking dinner." I place the tray with vegetables on the table in front of her and deposit my tray across from her.

"Thank you, Jackal." She tells me with a smile, I just hope the smile will remain in place throughout our private dinner.

"You have no idea how difficult it was to get these." I say with a fatigued sigh and slump into my seat opposite her.

"Yeah, I'm surprised you managed it. Only the higher ups are allowed to eat in their rooms so I'm not surprised that you had difficulty. How did you do it?" She seemed sincere with her explanation and I give a grin.

"I had to make a plan to get our food and come back here without being seen."

"You're not usually one to plan ahead, Jackal." Robin jokes with me as she, unsuccessfully, tries to suppress a smile.

"Oh really? Well, when you hear how I did it, you'll think I was a genius." I fist bump my chest as I describe how I managed to sneak the food here.

By the time I finish telling my tale, I see Robin with a happy grin on her face.

"You're right. You are a genius." She comments and I can't help but take pride in how she agreed.

"Of course I am. I am Jackal after all." I smile cockily and fist bump my chest again.

"Yeah, but you forgot the drinks and the cutlery." She says with the same smile on her face that mine is completely wiped off. I had wondered why she hadn't been tucking into her food while I was talking. I was sure that the chef gave us the proper cutlery. Was that why he was watching me? To see if I had noticed that he hadn't given us the proper cutlery? Damn him!

"Hahaha!" Robin's loud laughing brings me out of my cursing thoughts about the chef. She must find it funny that I forgot all about the drinks and cutlery.

"Okay, okay. Laugh it up." She continues laughing but it is beginning to die down. As it does, she raises her hand from underneath the table to reveal two sets of knives and forks.

"What?" I utter in surprise. Had Robin taken them while I was explaining my cunning plan. What a devil.

"You little minx." She gives a wide smile as she gives me back my knife and fork.

"You did forget the drinks though." She doesn't smile as she says this and I don't know how to take it. Is she depressed that I forgot? Or is she just simply trying to convince my that I did forget by not smiling and making appear as though she isn't joking? Maybe I'm looking too much into this.

"Hang on." I get up from my spot and head out of the room and into a side section of it where a very small kitchen is kept. It's too small to cook anything worthwhile in it, hence why I got the food from the cafeteria, but I will be able to pour two glasses of water for us. There's no chance I'd be able to get drinks from the cafeteria after all. That chef probably has a death warrant for me after my little lie.

After pouring the two glasses of water, I head back into the room to see that Robin has already began tucking into her free meal.

"Any good?" I ask as I set down a glass of water not too far away from her but far enough away that she won't be able to accidentally knock it.

"Yeah, it's pretty good." She says after swallowing her current mouthful. I sit back down in my position,

"Good, because there was a lot there and I didn't know what you would like." I set about eating my own meal as well. We make small talk as we eat with topics relating to life in the Far East but as we almost finish our meals, Robin takes a serious tone.

"Jackal, can I ask you something?" I am startled by how serious she becomes so suddenly and can only think that I have done something wrong.

"Y-Yeah, what is it?" I'm nervous. She doesn't usually take such a serious tone.

"You- you aren't going to forget this, are you?" She turned away as she asks. She looks so delicate and frail that a wrong answer would probably break her.

"How would I forget it?" Damn it. I should have said something more reassuring.

"Well, you do have amnesia, after all. And, you did forget about what happened after the mission yesterday." As she mentions this, I am reminded of why I originally wanted to see her but the conviction in her voice doesn't allow me to press the issue.

"I'll try not to. I didn't try to forget what happened yesterday either. What did happen to make you take such a serious tone?" Shit! I didn't mean to say that! It just slipped out! I watch for her response and it isn't a very positive one.

"I'm sor-" I attempt to apologise but rapid knocking comes from my door as well as a shout of my name before the person responsible opened it. The two of us see an angry, irritated Alisa standing in the doorway, hands on hips and eyebrows furrowed.

"Jackal! Is this where you've been all this time?!" She screams in anger before noticing that Robin is in the room as well. The three of us are silent for sometime. It's a few seconds later that Alisa breaks the silence.

"Am I interrupting something?" The anger is no longer present in her voice and, as much as I'd like to say that she was interrupting something, Robin speaks for the both of us.

"No, I was just getting ready to leave." She sounded quite depressed with these words as Alisa moved side and allowed Robin to walk out of the room.

"So I did interrupt something." She watches Robin as she enters her own room opposite from mine.

"So what did you come here for?" I give a depressed sigh at the situation. I'll have to check in on Robin at some point. It would probably be best to give her some time to herself at the minute though.

"Oh yeah." Alisa speaks in realisation before storming over to me and grabbing me by the arm, pulling me out of my room. I barely have time to close my door as she starts rambling.

"We were supposed to be on a mission a long time ago! Now we are very late!" She shouts and I remember that Hibari tried to mention the same thing to me but I ignored her. I should probably apologise to her the next time I see her.

"I need my God Arc." I inform her as she continues dragging me by my arm. By now, I am walking alongside her but she still keeps a hold of me, probably to stop me from escaping.

"It's already at the helicopter. The pilot said that he had seen you on the roof but then disappeared somewhere. What were you doing?" I remember that I had found Robin on the roof. So the pilot had seen me at some point.

"Whatever you were doing, it caused us to be very late! The Aragami may have moved by now!" She pulls me into the lift and towards the helicopter when we arrive at the roof. It looks as though I am heading on a mission. I wonder if it will be just the two of us or another God Eater or two will accompany us. Either way, I'm going to have to check up on Robin after this mission. Hopefully this will give her enough time to calm down.


	13. Chapter 13

Alpha and Omega - Jackal's Story

Chapter 13

In collaboration with Subzero Dragon. Visit their profile to see the other side of this story. Important events that aren't mentioned here take part in the other side of the story.

With the events of my dinner with Robin buried in my mind now, Alisa and I continue walking at a rather fast pace towards our helicopter. Well, I say walk but what I really mean is that I am being dragged to the helicopter by Alisa all the while hearing about how she has hunted all around the Den for me, including how she visited my room several times but nobody was in there.

"How can you track Aragami if you can't even track me?" I joke with her in an attempt to lighten the mood she caused. I continue looking ahead as I speak, though with a smile on my face, and I see the same helicopter that I remarked about before I found Robin still sitting there. This time though, the helicopter's blades are not spinning. I begin to wonder whether the helicopter is out of fuel but a sharp slap to the back of my head stops me from thinking.

"Ow!"

"Shut up, Jackal." I turn towards Alisa as she commands this of me and see a small, victorious smile on her face. I take my punishment and don't comment on it; she must have been searching for a while and it seems she's finally let out her frustration. I suppose that smack was probably deserved but it still hurt like hell. Alisa let's go of my arm once we get to the helicopter's doors and I lift my hand to the back of my head, rubbing it slightly. Whilst the slap probably won't leave a mark, it felt as though my brain had rattled around inside of my skull upon impact. Alisa slides the helicopter's doors open and enters. I, too, enter the helicopter and meet our third, and seemingly final, team mate for this mission. I doubt he noticed that the two of us had entered the helicopter. He seems content to sleep the day away. Something that I wouldn't mind doing either.

"Kota! Get up! He's here!" As if Alisa's sudden rise in voice wasn't enough to wake him up, Alisa settles for punching him in his back. I recoil at the power she hits him with and regret the fact that I thought her slap hurt. Her punch makes Kota spring awake and shout something about not turning off the television before he becomes aware of the situation. Alisa has since decided to take a seat beside him and I sit across from them.

"Oh, hey Jackal. You're a bit late." It almost sounds like he is patronising me. If I hadn't talked to him before then I would have definitely thought he was patronising me.

"He was gallivanting with Robin." Alisa comments for me, still clearly annoyed that she had to find me for this mission.

"Galli- what's its?" I smile at Kota's clueless expression as he looks between Alisa and I, the former being less amused than I.

"Ignore what she said, Kota. It wasn't true anyway."

"So what were you two doing then?" She looks to me with an annoyed, yet intrigued look on her face. She was genuinely curious as to what Robin and I were doing but was she annoyed that it wasn't what she thought it was? Or maybe she is just confused. "Because I clearly interrupted something." She continues, folding her arms and impatiently tapping her fingers on her arm.

"Two?" Kota repeats before turning to me. "Who were you with?" He enquires with a puzzled expression. Having heard the helicopter lift off sometime ago, I decided to have a little fun with the two of them . It will be a while before we reach wherever we are going anyway.

"I suppose the real question is, which 'who' would you like to know about?" I spouted the first thing I could think of to deter them from their question. After having said that though, I realise that I had completely forgotten that Alisa thought she was interrupting something between Robin and I. I had tried to play it off as if Alisa could have been interrupting something between the people I had talked to earlier today but she wasn't there for those conversations so she doesn't know I had them. Then again, she didn't specifically say that she was talking about Robin.

"wait, what? I'm confused." I grin as Kota expresses his confusion but it falls as I see Alisa's expression.

"Are you stupid?" Yep, she had clearly caught on about the loophole in my question. "The 'who' I was there to see, obviously. Are you telling me you were gallivanting with other people as well." She wasn't exactly a very happy person right now. In fact, if I were to look closer, I'm pretty sure her skin would be boiling with anger. This tells me that a wrong answer may very well make me be on the receiving end of a powerful punch. Even being a God Eater, I doubt I could stand a punch like hers. She had punched Kota clearly out of annoyance, how powerful would she hit me if I were lie? I swallow hard, it's a risk I don't want to take.

"You mean with Robin?" Was the only way I could answer her question.

"No, with Director Sakaki, of course I mean with Robin!" Alisa's voice had becomes much louder and I must admit that an angry Alisa is a scary Alisa. She was probably seconds away from getting out of her seat and punching me in the face, I don't care hoe fast I will heal because I am a God Eater, I don't want her to punch me!

"R-Right. O-Of course you do." I was getting nervous now. This is the first time in a long time that I have actually feared something this much. This is even scarier than when I was re-introduced to the battle field before the mission to exterminate the Garuda. I wonder if it was ever killed, I did wake up in the hospital without any memory of what happened after I fell from the sky after all.

"Alisa," Kota's soothing voice reminds me that we're not alone. Turning to him, I notice he has placed a hand on Alisa's shoulder. "You're scaring him. Does it really matter what they were up to? He's here now isn't he?" Kota, as of this moment, you are my guardian angel.

"But" Alisa seems to want to protest but glancing between the calm face of Kota and the petrified, sweaty face of me she takes a few deep breaths before sitting back in her seat. It is only now that I wipe my head and realise just how much I was sweating.

The three of us continued the ride in near silence. Kota, every once in a while finding the atmosphere weird, had begun trying to make small talk to alleviate the awkwardness surrounding us. It would work for a few utterances then the awkwardness would resume.

"We're here." The pilot shouts from his seat. I look outside and notice that we are slowly descending. I am very thankful for this seeing as how jumping from this height would probably kill me if I landed the wrong way. It's a good job that the pilot isn't overestimating our God Eater abilities.

"So, what are we hunting?" I ask nervously, the tension around us could be cut with a knife so I also decided to try slicing it. Hopefully the tension will be cut up enough that we can't feel it anymore.

"According to Hibari," It seems as though when we are talking about a mission, Alisa can place all of her grudges on the sidelines as she informs me with her commander voice. "There have been reports of a small herd of Sekhmets wandering around in the Sunken Grid. There are three of us so we'll each take one out."

"Hey, wait." I stop their little plan. "I haven't fought a Sekhmet before. How can I handle taking one on by myself?" I was getting nervous again but I was also fearing for my life. Kota and Alisa both know I'm not one to plan my attacks ahead very often so suddenly being forced to do that is like forcing me to go head to head with the Tsuchinoko.

"Is the legendary God Eater who killed a Garuda afraid of a simple Sekhmet?" Alisa comments mockingly but it does give me the knowledge of what happened to the mentioned Aragami. I wonder how I killed it.

"You know the effects of what happened the first time I faced the Garuda, should you really be mocking me for that?" I rhetorically ask her with the most serious face I could muster. Looking back on what happened, it was clear to see that my personality had suddenly changed and it wasn't for the better. My response seems to make Alisa stay silent. I'm not sure if she is thinking of a counter argument or if she just accepts that she lost that round.

"Come on, you can do it, Jackal."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Kota, but it takes more than just words to convince a person." I put a palm to my head. Words are merely that. Words. I couldn't use that against an Aragami could I? No, it's just a way that we, humans, communicate. Kota said that he had confidence in me with such conviction so it pains me to say that but I was right. I guess words do hold some kind of power if I feel as though I have pained Kota but it wouldn't have the same effect on an Aragami. I hear the helicopter doors opening and see Alisa standing as if she was about to jump with her God Arc in hand.

"Stop being a wimp, Jackal." Is all she says before jumping out. I'm surprised that she would suddenly say that. I turn to Kota who had also moved towards the door. He shares with me a sad smile that suggests that he agrees with Alisa.

"Your God Arc is behind you. See you after the mission." With that, he jumps. Did the two God Eaters accompanying me on this mission just call me a wimp? I'll show them!

I continue walking around the Sunken Grid, having just through the abandoned power plant when Hibari's voice appears from my earpiece.

"Jackal, there is a Sekhmet located 20 metres to your right. Approach with caution." I silently thank Hibari for the warning and begin skulking as I turn around the corner, giving me full access to see a Sekhmet not too far away. As I creep closer to it, I try to scan it for any features that I could unbind may help me to kill it. It appears to have a humanoid figure with large Chi-You-like wings. It also possesses some kind of yellow, ancient headgear that is easily identifiable compared to its black and red body colouration.

"So, it looks like a Chi-You, maybe it has the same weaknesses." I talk to myself, only after realising my mistake of talking out loud and my eyes widen in shock. The Aragami in statement turns in my direction. I had lost the element of surprise. In fact, it surprises m by extending a hand in a 'bring it on' fashion.

I prepare my God Arc as I wait to see what the Aragami will do. It hunches over itself as if it were bracing for an attack. Had I not already seen this position executed by a similar Aragami I may have attacked it right there. Instead, I watch its movement; waiting for the right time to deploy my shield. As it releases a single ball of fire into the air with an outstretched arm, I deploy my shield and jump back slightly. This is because I anticipate that the Sekhmet may make a charge for my whilst I am under the cover of my shield. Therefore it will need to cover more ground to get to me before the fireball hits. Speaking of, it dissipates upon contact with my Arc. Bringing it to my side, I see that the monster is already charging another attack at me with its hunched form. If I can somehow get behind the monster then I can avoid whatever attack it may be doing.

As I approach the Sekhmet, a flurry of fireballs are launched in my direction. I barely have time to side step the first one before deploying my shield which gives the same effect as the earlier fireball launched. When the flurry of fireballs is let up, I peak over my shield to see the Aragami creating an even larger ball of fire; one that my shield will not be able to fully protect me from. Before the Sekhmet can launch the attack, I clamber onto a raised platform and grin inwardly. So far, this beast has been acting exactly like a Chi-You and these fireball attacks can only move low to the ground the so this Aragami will have the same restrictions.

At least, that is what I thought. I never expected that this larger fireball was capable of lifting through the air like a heat-seeking missile. So when it comes within 2 metres of me, I barely manage to cover my head and torso with my shield. Unlike the others, this fireball remains in place for a few seconds as it slowly burns away my trousers with an intense heat. By the time the gaseous ball has dissipated, parts of my trousers have been completely burned away and the skin underneath has slightly reddened.

"I'm not looking forward to what this will feel like later." Right now I couldn't feel the pain because of the adrenaline rushing through my veins. I can't say that I will be saying the same thing later though. The burns don't look too bad. They'll probably heal up in a day.

"I can't stay on the defensive." I speak my thoughts and notice that the Sekhmet has now joined me on this platform. I make sure that I have the Sekhmet's attention by deploying my shield and wait for its reaction. Mockingly, the Sekhmet once again repeats the 'bring it on' gesture. Little does it know of the literal trap I am setting for it as I reach into my pocket with my free hand and drop the trap behind me.

"A cunning plan." I whisper to myself as I keep my shield deployed. Seeing as how I didn't fall for the Sekhmet's trick, it has resorted to firing off a single ball of fire into the air again.

"That's old news!" I shout to the Aragami, brushing off the attack, "What else do you have?" I hope to bait the Sekhmet and it took it. The Aragami came running towards me. I had expected it to glide towards me, which would have made this a lot easier, but as it approaches me, I see that there is a build up of flames around its leg. I jump off of the platform and the leg skims my shield before the beast falls into my paralysis trap and succumbs to it. Immediately, I rush back onto the platform and target the hands of the beast, seeing as how they are capable of producing those fireballs, maybe they will stop by destroying the source. With numerous, powerful slashes, I manage to break the beast's hands just as the Aragami breaks out of my trap. Now, I know this is incredibly risky, but I try throwing a paralysis trap at the Sekhmet with the hopes of paralysing it again. There is a 50% chance that it will succeed and therefore a 50% chance it will fail. It did the latter.

"Fu-" The aragami had once again crouched over so I had no time to complete my outraged burst as I prepared my shield once more. This time though, there were no fireballs. I once again switch back to my scythe as I notice this and charge towards it. Little did I realise just how damaging that would be. I had fallen into its trap.

As I ran closer to the beast, a huge wall of wind pulsated around it before they were pushed in my direction. With no expectation of this happening, I was forced to face the brunt of the attack as it threw me through the air and I collide with the wall of the abandoned power plant with a huge clunk. The pain shoots through my back as I force myself to stand up and move away from the defective power plant and just in time too. Had I been a few seconds later, then I would now be under at least one ton of reinforced steel that had fallen from such a height that would kill anything that was underneath be it man or Aragami. I had managed to avoid a painful death and headed back the way I was blown from.

As I reach the platform again, I see that the Aragami is off in a corner close to the platform, eating what looks to be an Ogretail that I hadn't noticed before. I get back on top of it and creep towards the Aragami, this time wary of speaking my thoughts aloud. I switch to Gun Form before I can get too close otherwise the Aragami would hear and I would have failed a stealth mission for the second time in less than ten minutes. I manage to get to a five metre distance between the Sekhmet and I before I decide to open fire a range of Freeze bullets. Two of the bullets hit the Sekhmet's legs, two hit each wing and one hits it directly in the back and it hunches over, looking defeated. With a smile on my face for defeating my first Sekhmet and proceed towards it, ready to extract the core.

"The Sekhmet is activating!" Hibari's sudden shout through my earpiece is enough to halt me in my tracks and retreat to higher ground. If this beast is anything like the Chi-You, it will glide a lot more when it is activating. I thank Hibari quietly before observing the situation. It is only a few seconds later before the beast rises in an unprecedented pace and jumps onto the platform with me. I move back and deploy my shield as I anticipate what is to happen.

As I predicted, it does glide towards me and I try to make myself as small as possible behind my shield to avoid being burned by the searing flames that envelops its body as it glides. It hits my shield dead on and forces me back several metres.

"Looks like I'll have to wait it out." I joke with myself as I see the beast gliding towards me once again and pushes me back to a familiar position. As the beast gets ready to glide again, I set another trap and place it behind me. This time, when the Aragami glides, I jump up from the ground with my shield still deployed and am launched several metres away from where the Aragami falls into my trap. A Bind trap. It will no longer be able to use that gliding attack as well as its fire kick attack. I jump back onto the platform and use a stun grenade, making sure to cover my eyes in the process. That's when I take the dance to the next level. I hit every part of its body in its confusion and manage to break its arm bonds in the process. I take the time to notice how every hit of my Arc seems to make the Aragami pant more and more. It was only a matter of time before I won.

When the Sekhmet shake off its confusion, I continue slashing at it, thinking that I could get the win right here. Even if it launched an attack, I would see it coming, right? With the gliding attack as well as the fire leg attack being bound the only attack it can use is the fireballs, right? So when the Aragami hunches over again, I am more than happy to continue standing where I am and deploy my shield. Little did I expect that I would be thrown several metres into the air with a flying uppercut and be given a rough landing on the floor. The Sekhmet towers over me before it jumps down from the platform. I take this as my chance to get up and start slashing a few more times and feel myself becoming a bit jittery in case it decided to uppercut me again. Don't get me wrong, I am still in a better fighting condition than this Sekhmet is but I don't like the surprise of being launched into the air. Thankfully though, it never comes to being launched in the air as I bring down my scythe on the Aragami's head, unbinding its head and allowing for another slash to kill it. I quickly extract the core before something else will happen to it. Who knows, it may have been trying to deceive me again.

"Nice job, Jackal. That is them all taken care of." Hibari informs me in a pleased voice.

"Good job, Jackal." I hear Alisa congratulate me and turn in the direction I heard their voice from. I notice that Kota is accompanying her on a raised platform not too much of a distance away.

"Wait, were you watching?" It would only make sense, right? There was no more Sekhmets to be defeated after I killed that one so they must have had the time to sit and watch me from that raised platform.

"Yeah, we would have helped but it looked like you had it covered." Kota chips in with a thumbs up gesture. I sigh unbelievably.

"You two are the worst team mates." I comment on their lack of team work with me and earn a few giggles. I didn't even mean it as a joke but at least I got a positive response from them both. It appears as though the earlier tension between Alisa and I has disappeared so that is something to be thankful for. I'm not going to bring up the topic again in case the same thing happened again.

The ride back home is a much more pleasant one than the ride before the mission. The three of us were talking as if the earlier events never happened but they still linger on my mind. I didn't think that Alisa could get that angry before. I will need to apologise at some point but right now, I think the apology can wait. Especially since I do have the night shift to take care of so I had better get some sleep while I can.

I headed back to my room where I see the empty plates on the trays from my dinner with Robin. I wonder what got her so upset. Either way, I still think I should give her some time. I doubt that she would be perfect after a couple of hours. I'll talk to her again tomorrow at some point. I stack the trays up on top of each other and walk back to the cafeteria with them in hand. I don't need to be as sneaky this time seeing as how I can just say that these trays belong to a couple of the higher ups, so I walk normally to the cafeteria where I deposit these onto an empty table. The cafeteria staff will clean this up. It is their job after all. After this, I head back to my room.

Entering my room for the second time in a few minutes, I prepare myself for bed. I change out of my clothes and into a set of pyjamas. I look to the clock situated on my bedside table. It reads as 17:50. I should be able to get about three hours of sleep before I need to get ready for the night shift so I settle down into my bed and try to find a comfortable position, close my eyes, and wait for the impending misery of waking up early. After all, I do like my sleep so having to wake up only a few hours after going to sleep isn't going to make me the nicest of people to be around.

To my surprise, when I do wake up I feel energised. It may be because I had already been asleep for a large part of today considering I woke up at 08:45 this morning and I went to sleep for another three hours. Then again, my body probably considers this as a nap and will probably be very sleep again during my night shift. Well, I had better prepare for it. I change out of my pyjamas and back into the clothes I was wearing earlier on today before realising how damaged my trousers actually were during the fight with the Sekhmet. Therefore, I decide to put on a new pair of trousers before leaving my bedroom, locked, and moving to the mission counter where I will report for duty as the God Eater on night shift. I imagine that this is what Karel has been doing after all.

"Hey, Hibari." I greet her with a smile but it falls from my face as soon as I remember today's earlier events. "Oh, and sorry about earlier. I don't know what came over me." I had apologised and thankfully, with Hibari being the type of person that she is, she dismisses my earlier behaviour as a typical early morning response.

"So what brings you here?" She asks me curiously. I'm guessing that Karel never told Hibari about me replacing his night shift. Then again, he is stuck in the infirmary, he wouldn't have been able to move from it to tell her. I wonder if anybody else visited him. Wouldn't they be able to tell Hibari about his current condition?

"I'm replacing Karel for the night shift for the next few days. He's been injured and won't be able to do it."

"Oh, yeah. I remember that. I didn't think he would ask you to do it though, considering your *ahem* history with him." Hibari adds nervously. She must have been informed about our previous quarrels.

"Yeah, well, I was kinds his only visitor today." I speak sheepishly, rubbing the back of my head with my hand.

"I'm even more surprised that you'd visit him." As if to say how surprised she was, she blinks wide eyed at me. I could feel that the atmosphere was quickly becoming one that we'd rather avoid. I'm sure that Hibari could feel it too.

"So... Um... The night shift?" I attempt to formulate a question but get caught up in the nervous atmosphere. Thankfully though, I don't need to repeat my question as Hibari gets the gist of what I was trying to say.

"Oh, yeah, you will need to head speak to Licca about the night shift. She will give you something that should help you out." She dismisses me with a confident wave and I reply with a wave of my own before deciding to meet Licca.

I find Licca in the God Arc Storage Area working on somebody's Arc. It takes a few seconds to realise that it is my Arc and I look to where my Arc should be to find it not there.

"Hi, Licca." I greet her and walk over to the desk she is working on. I wonder what she is doing to my Arc.

"Hey, Jackal." She looks up from her work and greets me with a hand on her hip. I notice that she appears to have grease marks just below her eyes as she does so. I wonder how long she has been working for and if she is aware of them. I, sheepishly, use my hand to gesture to the marks by scratching the area on my face that the marks are on hers. It takes her a few seconds to realise what I am doing before she rubs her face with her arm, only managing to smudge the grease marks further. I manage to stifle a laugh at this as she continues speaking to me with these marks on her face. I hadn't realised it before but it is a pretty cute feature how oblivious she is to them.

"Here for the night shift?" She asks me to my surprise. Clearly she must have been informed that I would be doing the night shift if she had to ask me for confirmation.

"Yeah, Karel told you?" I give her a smile to hide my confused expression.

"One of the medical staff told me." She looks down at my Arc again and continues working on it as she speaks. "I didn't think that Karel would ask you to replace him though. He doesn't exactly get on well with new recruits." As much as I would like to point out to Licca that Robin and I have been here for a while and are therefore no longer new recruits, I decide to keep my mouth shut to prevent any arguments that may ensue.

"So, how long will you be with my Arc?" I needed to ask her. I would need my Arc to help me with the night shift, after all.

"I should be done in about 30 minutes. Adding a few things to your Arc to help you out with the night shift." She explains and I feel a sort of bubbling feeling in my stomach. I was excited and grateful that she would help me out during the night shift.

"I wouldn't get too excited mind you. They are only things like a super super super powerful torch that can let you see things from over 50 metres away as well as a much smaller quadratic grid that allows you to detect if there are any Aragami in the area." Despite her attempts to play it down, I could still feel the bubbly feeling in my stomach but that didn't help me to understand what she was saying.

"I understand exactly half of that sentence." I hate to admit it but I had no idea what she was talking about. What the hell is a quadratic grid?

"You know the device that Hibari uses to detect for Aragami?" I nod as Licca stops her work to explain it to me. "It is essentially, a smaller, less powerful version of that." She looks back to my Arc as she resumes working on it. "It should be able to let you detect Aragami within a 50 metre radius of the Anti-Aragami Wall."

"That sounds pretty cool." I speak with a small smile.

"Yeah it is right? Very cool." She speaks with much more passion in her voice than I did which make me think that she is perfect for this line of career.

30 minutes of small talk about machinery and daily life later, I am all set for the night shift. Licca had also given me some kind of night vision goggles as well so I should be able to navigate fairly easily while I'm out there. I leave the Den and head to the Outer Wall.


	14. Chapter 14

Alpha and Omega - Jackal's Story

Chapter 14

In collaboration with Subzero Dragon. Visit their profile to see the other side of this story. Important events that aren't mentioned here take part in the other side of the story.

I've been out here for only two hours and already I am bored. Stuck wandering around the Anti-Aragami Wall like a colony of ants trying to find food. What makes this, almost aimless, wandering even worse is that the temperature has dropped as we progress further into the night. What started out as a fairly mild night has quickly become almost as cold as the Tranquil Temple. The weather from there had probably travelled down to here. Now, I'll admit that whilst I am cold, as a God Eater I have a few perks to not being as severely affected as others to the weather, like all of the non-God Eaters on the other side of this wall.

I had long since removed the night vision binoculars from my head. Truth be told, I haven't really needed them. I'm not the only one who is up this late. There is an operator that I hadn't met yet that helps with the night shifts. The first time I had heard his voice was when I set foot outside of the Anti-Aragami Wall. He had introduced himself as Naoki Yato. He didn't really give a description of himself. I suppose he wouldn't have to. If he works as an operator, I'm sure that I'll get to meet him eventually.

"Just checking in, Jackal. How is everything looking?" Speak of the devil, he communicates with me jokingly just as I begin reflecting on the night. I re-equip the night vision goggles and take a look around. Using night vision, everything has a hue of green. Everything from the landscape to the thing moving in the distance - wait a minute. I focus my vision on the moving object.

"Naoki, is there anything on the radars?" I ask him with a hint of concern in my voice. The object appears to be quite small but there shouldn't be anything moving out here. I hadn't received a signal from the quadratic grid Licca gave me but that doesn't mean a lot. It is possible that the object is outside of the quadratic grid's range; Licca did telll me that it was only a small device and that the operator's devices have a greater range.

"Nothing is coming up on the grid. Did you see something?" He asks in slight confusion. I notice that his usual friendly, positive voice has become quite serious. It's the first time I've heard him be serious, fair enough that I only met him a while ago but to suddenly turn from a joking voice to serious voice in the space of a sentence is quite alarming. It means that he gets serious when he needs to be. It's a good quality to have but if the moving object is not an Aragami then what could it be. The thought is most likely running through both of our minds.

"It seems to be moving on the spot." I give more information to see if we can figure out what the object is. I dare not to move closer just in case it is an Aragami. If it is, I won't move closer until I've figured out what Aragami it is.

"Hey," I can hear his joking tone, "maybe you should take another walk around the wall. If you can't see what the object is, and my radar can't find it, it must be pretty far away. I can let you know if something changes."

"Yeah, I'll do that." He was right. There is no point being held up here with something that might not even be a threat when something more dangerous could be at the other end of the wall. Taking this into mind, I continue patrolling the wall. The next time I come around to this part, I will see if the object has moved.

"So, do you only work night shift?" I ask Naoki in an attempt to make conversation. It intrigues me as to why that would be the case. I've been in the Far East for a while now and haven't heard from him before today. Wouldn't it make more sense to rotate the operators? That way they will each get experience of working on night shift.

"Yeah, that is the case. I like it though." He speaks almost reminiscently.

"What's to like about it?" I ask with curiosity. From what I can see, it wouldn't be very exciting to work the night shift. You can only interact with the person on night shift and the few people that are still awake in the Den. I can't see what he could enjoy about that.

"I don't have to speak with a lot of people." He gives a chuckle after he says this and I almost stumble as to how I had guessed his reason. He likes the night shift simply because he doesn't need to communicate with others.

"Why do you like that?" It is confusing. Surely somebody with such a positive, uplifting voice would want to interact with people. It seems like a waste for him not to.

"I don't really like how things are during the day. There are too many people around and I get kind of nervous." As if to emphasise his point, he gives a nervous chuckle after discussing his reason. Is it possible that Naoki is just too shy to interact with others?

"What brought you to the Far East?" I change the conversation to avoid the topic that he probably doesn't like to talk about. I continue my walk around the Anti-Aragami Wall as we converse. I haven't noticed any other moving objects since the one I had questioned Naoki about. Speaking of, I'll be coming up to that spot within the next few minutes.

"I was transferred here quite recently, actually." I guess that is the reason why he is shy with around others. "I was told that I'd be working here as the night shift operator from Fenrir Headquarters. So it is my job to do the night shift." Well, at least he likes his job; even if it does mean he doesn't interact with many people which, to him, is another positive part of his job. "What about you? I've heard your name quite often but don't really know why." He enquires.

"Well, I also transferred here a while ago with my friend Robin. We've had a rough time with some newer Aragami but it's all worked out in the end." I speak before bringing up something he said. "What have you heard about me?"

"Wha? Uh..." He stumbles for words as I call him out on how often he has heard about me. I am intrigued as to what has been said about me without my knowledge. "Let's just say... Karel doesn't have the best opinion of you." Karel, huh? I don't have the best opinion of him either. "But I don't know why!" He quickly, and nervously, adds in, what I believe, is an attempt not to offend me in some way.

"Don't worry about it, Naoki. I don't have the best opinion of him either." I voice my previous thoughts. It was clear that he didn't want to offend me so I had to make sure that he hadn't.

By the time morning comes around, I have learned quite a bit about Naoki, and he me. Also, I had discovered that the moving object was not an Aragami. It was just a plant. I felt relieved as I noticed this. I had to venture towards it and, at the dead of night, it was scary to do so. I'm not afraid to admit that. Right now though, I'm just glad that my first night is over. I walked into the God Arc Storage Warehouse and gave my Arc to Licca as well as the extra equipment before heading back to my room to get some much needed sleep.

"Ja-! -ke- p! -ow!" Somebody shouting and banging heavily on my door makes me wake up in a panic and I scramble over to the door. I fumble with the handle in worry as the person continues banging on my door. Her voice is more clear now, it is obvious that the woman wants me to wake up quickly.

"Jackal! Get your arse up, now!" I could tell from her voice that the woman was Gina. I didn't even need to open the door to recognise it. What could have made her in such a bad mood?

"What's up?" I ask after opening the door and coming across an angry looking Gina. I could have sworn that I can see a vein on her forehead.

"What's up?!" She repeats mockingly, "What's up is that all of my underwear is gone!"

"Er... what?" I ask, flustered as to why she would need to tell me this. "Why do I need to know?" I was confused as well as flustered. Clearly something was up with her.

"I found this outside of your door." She lifts her hand up and reveals a thick, purple piece of string.

"You found string outside of my door?" My question seems to infuriate her more as she pushes past me and begins wrecking my room. Throwing things out of drawers, lifting my bed up, all of it. "What are you doing?!" I ask in confusion as to why she is doing this.

"Why are you hiding them?" She asks still in a fit of rage.

"What?"

"Everyone's underwear! You're the thief!" She shouts to the heavens. I am baffled by her accusation. It is only a few more seconds before I hear a shake and suddenly, a whole barrage of girls show up at my door.

"You're the thief?!" They ask in surprise. I notice that the group consists of Kanon, Annette, Alisa, Robin and surprisingly, Ms. Amamiya. They barge past me and into my room. Well, all but one of them.

"I am not the thief!" I shout but my voice falls upon deaf ears. The girls won't take my answer and help Gina to rip up my room. All but one, the one who stands beside me. I knew I could trust her to believe me.

"You're not the thief, right?" Robin asks as if she is unsure, turning her head away from me in the process. Truthfully, it hurts me to hear that my best friend doubts me. I try not to let it show, but I'm not sure how successful I am.

"Robin," I place my hands on her shoulders, forcing her to look at me, "I am not the thief." I tell her with conviction in my voice as I stare into her eyes. I know that one way to tell if somebody is lying is by the person avoiding eye contact. By staring into her eyes, I hope to prove that I am not lying. I have no time to look for the detail in her eyes as I try to find some kind of emotion in them. Unfortunately, I am no good at reading emotions via the eyes so I have no luck in doing so. A few, incriminating, seconds later, Robin nods her head confidently. Robin believes me. I smile at this and let go of her shoulders.

"I'm not the thief, guys." I speak calmly. I doubt I am heard though as they continue to rip up my room in an attempt to find their stolen underwear. Wait, if all of their underwear is gone, does that mean that they're not wearing any? I quickly shake my head of the thought. Thinking about that won't help my cause.

"I don't think he's the thief." Robin chips in with my back up.

"And why do you think that?" Surprisingly, Robin speaking up has managed to stop them from continuing to destroy my room. It is Ms. Amamiya that asks Robin the question with an almost critical look.

"I could see it in his eyes." Robin speaks, I'm glad that she is standing up for me. However, it appears that the others are not convinced.

"You're not just sticking up for him because he transferred with you?" Kanon asks with an equally critical gaze as the one from Ms. Amamiya. I am surprised by Kanon's claim. Hasn't Robin also been affected by this thief?

"No!" Robin shouts back, expectedly, "I could see it in his eyes! You haven't found anything have you? You've almost destroyed his room!" Robin had lost her patience. I do have to disagree with her with one thing. My room isn't almost destroyed, it is destroyed.

"Then what about this that I found outside of his room?" Gina lifts up the piece of string. Robin doesn't seem to have an answer for it.

"It could have been planted there." My suggestion seems to shut the other girls up. I guess they hadn't thought about that.

"Well, it seems you're not the thief after all." Ms. Amamiya speaks before heading towards the door. Does she think that I'm going to let her get away with destorying my room. I run to the door, blocking it. Ms. Amamiya doesn't look too pleased at my actions. Then again, I'm not pleased at hers either.

"Who's going to fix my room?" I give her a stare as I ask my question. It was obvious that I wasn't happy about the state of my room. Seeing as how I didn't cause the mess, I shouldn't need to clean it.

"*ahem* Girls," Ms Amamiya turns her head towards the girls, "clean up the room." They groan in response. You reap what you sew, I guess. Whilst I am happy that I don't have to clean it up. It is rather unfair to the girls that Tsubaki didn't have to clean it as well. She gives me a look as if to say 'that's all you're getting'. Well, I take what I can and move out of her way as she passes by me.

"Get cleaning girls!" I shout happily and they all move to clean up. "Oh, Robin, you don't have to. You didn't make the mess, after all." I flash her my signature smile as I speak. "You're free to leave." Of course, if she wanted to help clean up then she could. I doubt she would want to though, but what should I do now. I didn't get much sleeep thanks to this situation and it seems as though it will take a while for the girls to clean up my room, meaning I won't be able to sleep while they do so.

My answer comes with a couple of knocks on the door. I open it to see a person I haven't seen before. The man looked to be in his early twenties and had a slightly stocky frame. He wore an orange t-shirt covered by a brown jacket. His lower half consists of black trousers and boots.

"Hi, Jackal." He smiles at me. I instantly recognise the voice as the person that helps out with night shift. I wonder what he's up to this early. I didn't think he would be awake this early considering he works night shifts.

"Naoki?" I ask just to make sure. This is our first meeting after all.

"Yeah. Are you doing anything right now?" He asks as he tries to peer behind me and into my room. I'm sure he has noticed all of the females, especially the one with green hair that seems to be looking towards us in curiosity.

"Robin, did you want to leave?" I ask her, turning around to do so. She didn't have to stay in here after all, and I didn't want to make her wait until Naoki and I have finished conversing. She gives a nod of her head before leaving. We step side to allow her to.

"No, I'm not doing anything. These girls had wrecked my room so they have to clean it up." I motion behind me with my thumb. He seems to want to ask why but doesn't actually ask.

"Okay, well, do you want to grab something to eat?" He smiles as he asks this. I decide to take him up on his offer seeing as how I won't be able to sleep with the three girls, Gina, Kanon and Alisa, fixing my room and seeing as how I haven't had any food yet. I walk out of my room and close the door behind me.

"Cafeteria, right?" I begin heading to the lift. Naoki in tow.

"No, actually." I turn to look at him. If we can't eat in the cafeteria, where else will we go?

"Would you mind waiting for me on the roof?" He nervously asks. I give a nod to confirm. I head into the lift first with my destination being the roof. I'm not sure where Naoki plan on going or what he plans on doing but I'll wait for him, just as he asked.

"You were telling me about your amnesia?" Naoki reminds me of the topic we were discussing. I grab another sandwich out of the basket as I continue telling him my story. Truth be told, I don't tell him everything about my amnesia like the weird dreams I've been having as of late. I tell him just enough to satisfy his curiosity. Quite frankly though, I find him to be more curious. He appears at my door, somehow he knew that it was my room, and offered me to eat with him. What's more is that he told me to wait on the roof, which I did do for a while, before he appeared with a basket in hand and guided me to a spot on the roof that we won't be disturbed by the helicopters on it. Actually, the place we are currently sitting in is the place that I found Robin and asked her to eat with me. I guess it is entirely coincidental; after all, Naoki had no idea who Robin was. Even as she went by us to exit the room, I had noticed Naoki seemed to be nervous. When I brought it up, he quickly changed the subject. If he was that nervous around her, does that mean he is that nervous around everybody? I know that he doesn't like to communicate much, is that why he wanted us to eat up here; out of the way of everybody else?

"So why are you so curious about my amnesia?" I ask him with a mildly confused expression. When we first sat down to eat, he had brought up my life and my family. I told him that I suffer from amnesia and that only seemed to make him more curious.

"How could I not be? Having amnesia makes a person that much more mysterious. Even the person doesn't know what their past contains. And, who knows, maybe by talking about it you might remember something." He did have a point. Maybe I could remember something if I talk about it more. The problem though, is finding who I can talk about it with. Robin would definitely be the first I'd turn to but I think she is the only person I would talk to confidently about it. I've known her for a while now and I know she wouldn't refuse me if I needed to talk with her about something weighing on my mind. However, if Robin isn't around, I don't think I'd want to talk to anybody about it.

"I suppose you're right." I give a sigh. Just because I agreed with him it didn't mean that I would talk to him about it. I haven't even known him for a day. I'm not going to spill my guts to him just because he suggested the idea.

"Naoki, quick question." I speak seriously, gaining his attention and I notice he no longer has a smile on his face. Maybe I was too serious about this, "How come you don't have trouble talking to me?" I observed his reaction. At first, it seemed as though he didn't hear the question but then he suddenly became flustered. "Actually, you don't need to tell me right now." I quickly add in. If he were to stay flustered then it wouldn't be very good when we were on night shift. He would probably try to avoid me unless it was absolutely necessary. I don't really want to admit it, but talking to him made the night go rather quickly. I would prefer tonight to go like that as well.

I hadn't realised how long Naoki and I had been talking on the roof. It seemed to be no longer than an hour, but the sun had set a while ago, signalling that our shift would be starting soon. Now, an hour later, I have set off on the regular Anti-Aragami Wall walks; constantly checking that no Aragami would be near.

Four hours of no activity other than talking with Naoki pass before something alarming appears. Or should I say, two alarming things.

"Two Aragami have just appeared on my radar." Naoki announces with a serious voice and I can hear a regular beat in the background. It's clear that he means business. I look on my radar to see if they are on mine. They aren't which means that they're still a bit far away from me.

"Where are they?" I ask him as I prepare my Arc for a battle. If the Aragami are too far away, I may need to use my Arc's Gun Form to hit them.

"They look to be heading for the Western side of the wall. You're at the North Eastern side. Get over there as quick as you can and embrace for combat." Hearing this new side of Naoki is quite funny. I had him pegged to be the nervous type when an Aragami shows up. Nevertheless, I sprint over to the Western side of the wall.

By the time I get there, I am already panting hard. It was easy to tell that my body was tired. All I could hope for is that the Aragami either change course and head away from here, or they are small Aragami that can be beat easily. I look over the plains in front of me to locate the beasts. It takes another minute before I can locate them with the night vision goggles. Seconds later, a few pings can be heard from my God Arc. I deduce these to be the quadratic grid. The two Aragami, Zygotes I notice, had gotten too close. Now they will need to die.

"I'm heading over to them." I tell Naoki my intentions as I head in their direction.

Once I have gained some distance on them, I aim my Arc towards the closest Zygote before unleashing a barrage of bullets. They manage to kill the Zygote without any trouble. However, the sound of its dying screams had definitely attracted the attention of the other Zygote. I was forced to switch back to Melee Form to block it as it came speeding towards me. The momentum from it had caused me to fall onto my back. Luckily, I wasn't injured. I quickly got up to avoid the Zygote's poison cloud attack and stayed back until it dissipated. Once it had, I rushed straight towards it and slash it three times before having to dodge a gust of air blown in my direction.

"You're doing well. Another few hits should kill it." Naoki encourages me and I charge back towards it. I jump to hit more of the levitating beast and manage three slashes whilst in mid-air to kill it. Without another thought, I devour the cores of the defeated Zygotes before returning to the wall, thanking Naoki for his praising of my abilities.

The night continued without any more Aragami wandering too close. Finishing my shift, I put my Arc away before heading to my room. I noticed that everything seemed to have been cleaned up but I couldn't relish it. I went straight into my bed before I headed to sleep. I fell asleep almost instantly after my head hit the pillow.

For the second day in a row, loud knocking awakes me from my sleep.

"Jackal?" Accompanied by a soft voice. I looked at my digital clock and found it to read 14:20. About six hours before I was supposed to wake up.

"Jackal?" more knocks follow. I woke up six hours earlier than I was supposed to because of this person. The person who desperately wants my attention that they don't care about how I have to work night shifts. Angrily, I stomped towards the door and flew it open, not caring if it came off of its hinges.

"What?!" I shout angrily and hatefully as I fling the door open. Only now do I regret it. Standing on the other side of the door is Robin. She looked scared to see me open the door and speak with such hatred in my voice. "Robin?! I... I..."

"No, it's okay, Jackal." She speaks with a smile on her face. I could tell it wasn't a real smile. It was one that tried to cover up the pain she was pain felt from me shouting at her. "It's fine. It can wait." She speaks, looking down to the floor. She shakes, whether from nervousness, worry or fear I have no idea.

"Robin-" I attempt to apologise for my actions. Surely she would have understood if I told her why I was angry.

"I'll speak with you some other time." She quickly interrupts before walking away. I would follow her but I'm not sure what she would say. Truthfully, I fear that I would say something that I shouldn't as well. I should probably give her time to calm down. My eyes follow her as she retreats into her room. It confuses me why she would want to see me. Surely it must have been important if she needed to interrupt my sleep. She knows I need to sleep through the day seeing as how I'm on night shift., so why did she disturb me? I head back to my bed.

For the next two hours, I attempt to sleep but the thought of a depressed Robin continues to haunt me. I don't think I have given her enough time to recover but I should apologise as soon as possible. Tomorrow would probably be the best time possible. What should I do now though? There are still four hours left before I need to get ready for night shift and I haven't been able to get back to sleep.

Eventually, I had decided to wander around the Den as I thought to myself.

"Oh, Jackal?" I hear Karel's voice and turn to my right to find him in the infirmary bed. I hadn't even noticed that, as I was thinking, I had wandered into the Infirmary. I walk towards the empty seat beside Karel's bed.

"Hello, Karel. How have you been?" I ask him. Truthfully, I didn't really care but I could fake at least a little concern.

"I'll be out of here tomorrow. That's what matters." An awkward silence envelops us. I had no idea what to talk about. I hadn't planned on visiting Karel in the Infirmary, I just happened to come across it whilst lost in thought.

"How's the night shift coming along?" he breaks the silence.

"Well, I've been out there twice and only had to deal with two Zygotes. I guess it has been going well. What have you been doing while you've been in here?" I ask him. I was genuinely curious as to how he was passing the time. I know that, due to his personality, he wouldn't have had many visitors which is how I spent my time in the Infirmary, but what about him?

"I've been doing things. Don't worry. I've still been making money so it's not a big waste of time being in here. I will be back on night shift tomorrow though." He informs me, almost with a glare. I was intrigued as to how he was still making money and so I ask him how.

"The hospital I own has been doing well." He speaks with pride. It amazes me how easy he can speak of owning a hospital.

"You own a hospital? Why?" He didn't seem to be the type to care about other people. But if that was the case, why would he own a hospital?

"To make money, of course." I should have expected that answer.

I don't realise how long I spend by Karel's bedside but he does remind me that I will need to get ready for it in half an hour. I was pleasantly surprised by how much time I spent with him. I'm quite thankful that I did though. I seem to have gotten a better impression of him. Regardless, I do need to get ready for the night shift and so, I go to collect my Arc.

"I heard from Karel that you and him had a long talk?" Naoki asks and I could imagine the smile on his face as he did so. I don't know how he heard from Karel. I guess Naoki had visited him before doing the night shift. It would make sense I suppose, Naoki has worked with Karel during the night shift. Also, it was during the night shift that Karel got injured so it would only make sense to be concerned for him.

"Yeah, we were just talking about life and-" An object moving in the distance makes me cut my sentence short. I look through the night vision goggles to see the object.

"What's wrong, Jackal?" If Naoki had to ask this, it means that the object hasn't appeared on his radar. I don't answer him straight away as I continue to stare at the object through the night vision goggles. When I say 'object' I really mean to say 'monster'. The thing was clearly an Aragami. One that I hadn't seen before. Despite the fact that the monster was still a long distance away, it was clear to see that it was an Aragami. The Aragami has many tentacles and had to be the size of a mountain. There's be no way that I can defeat it on my own.

"Naoki, I'm going to need back up."


	15. Chapter 15

Alpha and Omega - Jackal's Story

Chapter 15

In collaboration with Subzero Dragon. Visit their profile to see the other side of this story. Events that aren't mentioned here take part in the other side of the story.

After I had called for back up, I ran towards the large Aragami. I couldn't let the beast get too close to the Branch and be a danger for the citizens or possibly just invoke panic in them. Therefore, I intend to drag the beast further away from the Branch. If I have to do that single handedly until my support arrives then I guess I'll just have to do that.

"Naoki, have you seen this beast before?" I manage to say through my exhausted pants as I run towards the monster.

"It's not appearing on the radar. Can you give me a description?" Ah, I get what he is trying to do. If he can't see it, I can act as his eyes to describe it and he'll be able to look it up on the NORN database.

"It's a huge Aragami with massive tentacles." That was the only way I could describe it. The monster was so huge that it was blocking out the little light that the moon was providing, meaning that there is no way for me to see its other features. The only thing that is clear is the tentacles and its size.

"It sounds like an Ouroboros. I'll update the message with the class of Aragami that it is." Naoki speaks before cutting the line. I continue running after the Aragami.

About 15 minutes of running later, I finally get to a decent distance near the monster. I stand about 100 metres away from the monster, but I am able to see more of its features. The night vision goggles definitely help. Now, I can see that the monster has numerous eyes. I feel myself shrink at the beast's size and, with multiple eyes, its eyesight.

"Naoki, how long until my support arrives?" I dare to ask. It took me 15 minutes to run to this point and I was already ready for battle. My support though, they probably aren;t ready for battle, neither are the pilots that will bring them here.

"Everybody is rushing around to get their things ready. A few of them are already ready and are just waiting for a pilot to be ready. This group will probably arrive in 15 minutes." Hearing that they are getting pilots ready is very helpful for me. It means that they won't need to run here and will be in a better condition than I am seeing as how I am.

With the news that my first support group will arrive in 15 minutes and with the Aragami quickly closing the distance, I decide that I will have to act now. The beast had already moved 25 metres as I had asked Naoki about my support. I can't wait any longer. I transform my Arc into its Gun Form and continue my sprint towards it. As I get closer to the Ouroboros, it notices me and halts its movements. I use the opportunity to fire a few Freeze bullets into its face, aiming for the eyes. If I could somehow destroy its eyes, it may be a lot easier to kill. As expected, the monster doesn't take too kindly to be shot in the face and takes what looks to be a defensive position. It plants its feet against the ground and rears its head back to towards its body. It must be trying to make sure that I don't hit its face again. I grin as I aim my Arc towards its face.

" I've found your weakspot " I sing to myself in excitement. I don't know what I was fearing about this monster. If anything, it seems more tame than other, smaller Aragami with it moving its head back in a cute attempt to make me not hit it. As soon as I finish singing this line, I fire two bullets into its face. This time though, I don't get the same reaction.

"What the -" I force myself to stop speaking as I jump to the ground to avoid a laser beam attack that would have hit me in the face. I cover my head with my hands in an attempt to protect it as I notice that the monster's laser beam is still in effect.

"Naoki, how long now?" I ask with a panicked voice. There is no way that I will be able to defeat this thing single-handedly. My only hope is for my back up to arrive very quickly.

"Still about 13 minutes." His response, although fast, was not what I wanted to hear. I had only been battling the monster for about two minutes and already I've had to avoid a killing blow. I look to my right to see that the Aragami has stopped its laser attack but it has started running towards me. I scramble to my feet and narrowly avoid being stomped on. This is going to be a very difficult battle.

"I've just noticed something about the first group." Naoki's lack of positivity alarms me to what I think is about to be bad news. "This group is incapable of helping you out in a melee situation. They're all gunners; Gina, Kota and Kanon." He informs me of the people in the first group that will be sent out. Unfortunately, their Arcs don't have a Melee Form so they will have to avoid getting too close to the Aragami.

"To make matters worse, there is only one functioning helicopter. Ground support has already been alerted. It should take them five minutes to get ready but another twenty before they reach you." That's great news! I think sarcastically. It appears that I won't get any melee help for another 25 minutes. Let's hope I haven't died by then.

With a heavy sigh, I run after the creature that has since came to a stop, looking around as if to try and see me. As I run towards it, I try to assess where the best place to hit it would be. The face is not an option for melee attacking. I am very close to its mouth that way. I can shoot at its face though but I don't have any Oracle Points at the moment. It's legs would seem to be a good starting point. Maybe if I assaulted its legs then it's movement would be restricted. Then again, I don't think I'm ready to attempt to avoid being trampled to death. It's back would seem to be a good option. There are plenty of places to grab hold of if the Aragami tries to buck me off. I think it may be my best option. With this in mind, I decide to run up its back. It notices an increase in weight and attempts to buck me off, like I predicted, but I manage to hold onto what I imagine to be the Aragami's shoulder support. The three pronged bone-like structure is large enough for me to hold onto whilst fighting off the few tentacles that stray too close to me.

"Jackal? What are you doing?" I hear the panic in Robin's voice but I can't help but wonder how she was able to contact me from the Den.

"Jackal? Are you all right?" Without the communication lines changing, Naoki speaks to me. I figure out that Naoki must have contacted me and Robin, whom must have seen the radar, rushed to speak with me. Naoki was panicking too. It wouldn't be good for them to panic.

"I'm fine, at the moment." After telling them my condition, I quickly add the last part with a whisper. "When will the Gunner squad arrive?" I ask while trying to keep a grip on the Aragami's back. I dare not tell them for their own sake. After all, it's not like they know that I am on the Aragami's back. My signal would be smaller than the Aragami's, which must have appeared on the radar now, so my signal would show on top of the Aragami's even if I was assaulting its legs.

"It should be there in a few minutes!" The rushed voice of Robin answers me. I wonder if Naoki and her have become acquainted. Hearing Robin's reply, I move my head from side to side to see any sign of the helicopter bringing them. At least I will have some backup when I arrive. The pilot will probably drop them off on a high ledge so that they have the vantage point over the Aragami. I still won't have any melee support though.

"How long until you're here, Robin?" I ask, moving backwards on the Aragami and closer to its face. I would feel safer if I knew that Robin was with me. She was the first person I had met after waking up from my amnesia and we've been friends ever since, despite our first encounter.

"I'm just waiting for the driver to get ready!" She rushes with her response again. She must be arriving via ground support then. "It should be about 20 minutes!" I try to hide my annoyed grunt but I'm not sure if I succeed.

"Please hurry." I say to her before dropping the line of conversation. It was getting harder to focus on defeating the Aragami whilst speaking. I'll just have to hope that the gunner squad arrives soon.

A few minutes later, I hear the helicopter bringing my support in the background.

"Jackal?! What are you doing on it's back?!" Kanon, in a fit of panic, asks me. They must be close enough so that I could hear them through my earpiece.

"There's no time to explain! Just help me kill it!" I shout, forgetting about the fact that they'd be able to hear me through their own earpieces.

"I didn't think you were so hardcore." Gina gives a snide remark. "I like it-"

"Gina! I honestly don't care what you like at the minute! Just get out of that helicopter and help me!" It may have sounded mean but there was no time to play around. By this time I had reached the upper part of its back, having almost direct access to the monster's horns. However, that also means that more tentacles have direct access to me. I deploy my shield to defend against the tentacles. After being attack like this for a while. I notice that they attack in patterns. Therefore, this allows me to read their next moves.

"You should get down from there, Jackal." Or at least it would have if Kota wasn't distracting me, meaning I have to move around now to avoid being hit by the tentacles. I was ready to attack! After the left tentacles had attacked, I would have moved over to the left side to slash at the arm that the tentacles transform into. Then, after the right tentacles attack and transform into an arm, I would move over to the right side to attack its arm whilst the other arm transforms into tentacles and tries to attack me. However, with Kota speaking, I have been unable to focus on the Aragami's attack patterns. "I understand that you climbed onto its back to avoid being injured, but now you have support."

"I'll be fine, Kota." I dismiss his worries and guard against the last left tentacles before running over to the left side.

"What the?!" I shout as my right foot missteps into a hole and ends up making me fall through the Aragami's thicket of a back.

"Jackal!" I guess the gunnner group must have seen me fall through it back and wind up painfully on the ground, narrowly avoiding being trampled by the Aragami's feet.

"Ah!" I had landed on my backside, and being dropped from a large height was very painful. Nevertheless, the key for God Eaters is to make use of what you are given. Now that I am back on the ground, I can attack the beast's legs.

"I'm fine." I speak to my team mates who I hope are now out of the helicopter. I can't seem to hear it, after all. Surely that means that the helicopter has gone back to the Den to pick up another squad.

"Naoki, how long until the next group arrive?" I ask again. Even with three other God Eaters, I don't think that we'll be able to defeat this Aragami.

"The ground support group containing the 1st Unit is on its way now. ETA is 15 minutes." Naoki informs me, the previous panic in his voice having left him. After a few more swipes against the Aragami's feet, I run out from under it. I don't think slashing its feet was very effective. I'll have to make sure that, if I am going to continue my melee attacks, that I continue them against the Aragami's already damaged arms.

After five more minutes of slashing against the arms as well as the gunner squad shooting the Aragami, it appears that it is finally feeling the effects of our attacks. It falls to the floor with its tentacles out in front of it, I continue my assault on them and finally break through the Aragami's skin.

"The Aragami's tentacles have been unbound! It is sure to react in a violent way!" I hear Hibari speaking through the earpiece.I wonder if she was told to wake up to help out Naoki. Nevertheless, I continue my onslaught on the beast that is quickly making its way back to its feet. The Aragami looks to, once again, rear its head into its body but a few seconds later, I realise that the Aragami is rising on its hind legs, making attacking its tentacles impossible. I run to its feet.

"Jackal, wait!" I the gunner group shout and stop in my tracks, only a metre or two away from its feet. "Fall back!" They shout but even if I wanted to, I couldn't. The Ouroboros smashes its tentacles into the ground and unleashes a blinding light. I couldn't shield my eyes quick enough and face the full brunt of it. My vision is white and I find myself panicking as I feel a sharp, powerful blow to my chest, knocking me back by what I think is several feet.

"Jackal, are you okay?!" The panicked voice of Kota and a sudden raise in my head's elevation returns my vision. Other than the fact that I notice that Kota is now holding my head and looking down at me with, a quickly changing, face from panic to happiness, I notice that the Aragami is now about 50 metres away. I look down to my chest and see fresh blood soaking my shirt.

"I'm fine." I stand up with a bit of a struggle before lifting my shirt up to see how deep the wound is. Surprisingly, it wasn't very deep.

"Naoki! My ground support! Where is it?!" I angrily shout. I had lost my patience. Had the gunner squad not have been here then it is possible that I would have been trampled to death.

"ETA is five minutes! Just try to hold on!" I cut off the connection and grunt angrily. I was pissed off! I've been out here for a long time now and it looks as though the Aragami can still go on for a while longer. Whereas, it would take a few hits before a person would die if facing one of the these beasts. I'm already nearing death. I probably won't be able to take another blow like that.

"Maybe you should stay back." Kota suggests in concern.

"We'll deal more damage if we have at least one person to attack via melee. Since nobody else can do that, I guess it will have to be me." I brush off his concern with logic before rushing back towards the Aragami.

After what feels like a minute of angrily attacking the Aragami, it, once again, falls to its front with its tentacles displayed in front of it. As I hack away at the exposed skin, Naoki gives me some information I didn't want to hear.

"Your ground support has encountered a smaller herd of Aragami. They have been instructed to destroy them before coming to help you."

"What?!" I wasn't happy at this news. "Who the hell instructed them to do that?!" I was definitely going to give that person a talking to. To delay my support is almost the same as letting me fight for me own life. I won't be able to defeat this thing by myself! Even if I do have gunners to support me, what are they going to do if it looks like I am going too be trampled? Come in and defend me with their gun since they don't have a shield? That's preposterous! As every thought crosses my mind, the strength in which I hit the Aragami increases.

"Ms. Amamiya commanded it." It sounds like I'll have to have a stern talk with Tsubaki then. "Don't worry though, it shouldn't take too long for them to arrive." Despite Naoki trying to reassure me, I knew that it would take a while to defeat the Aragami. I groan as the Aragami climbs back to its feet. I attempt to get in a few more slashes before it can narrowly avoid its arms swinging towards me.

"Whew. That was clo-!" I suddenly feel the Aragami's arm smash into my already damaged chest at such a high speed that I fly through the air for the second time of the day. I come to a stop after my back hits something hard. The last thing I hear before I black out is Kanon shouting,

"I'll get him!"

My vision returns almost as suddenly as it was taken from me. However, instead of a battleground, all I see are white walls. I lift my head up and see that the entire room was white. More alarming though, was the fact that it was empty. There was not even a speck of colour in the room apart from what I am wearing. In fact, the only way I know that this is a room is because of where the walls meet. Other than that, there is no indication to suggest I am in a room. There are no doors at all and there are no windows either. Why am I here and what are these rooms used for? These are the only questions that cross my mind.

"Jackal" I hear a feminine voice whisper to me. I can't identify the whisper though but I try to find the source. I fail to do so.

"Hello?" I speak up, hoping to get a response while walking to one of the white washed walls and moving my hand across it. I wasn't panicking which is what surprised me.

"Jackal!" I hear again, this time it was a shout at the other side of the room. I rush towards it.

"Hello?!" I shout to the wall but don't receive a response. I continue rubbing my hands across the walls, trying to feel for a door to escape from. That is until I feel myself being forced out of the room via the ceiling and I feel my blood boiling but not before hearing,

"He's talking to himself again." With these being the last words I hear, the white room fades from my sight.

I shoot up in surprise and find this to be a bad idea because of three reasons. One, because of the blood that rushes to my head. Two, because my head smacks into something. And three, the pained "ow" I hear coming from this something. Or should I now say, someone? I recoil as the pain in my head overcomes my thoughts. I look to see who I had bumped into and find Kanon sitting near me with bandages at her side. She also had a hand to her head.

"Sorry about that, Kanon." I apologise for bumping into her before looking down to my chest. I see that, despite the world slightly moving from my dizziness, my chest has been wrapped in a bandage; the bandages going over my clothes. I wonder if the wound had gotten deeper because of the blow that knocked me out.

"That's fine. Are you feeling okay? Can you continue?" I knew she was asking me if I could still fight and I confirm with a firm nod. Judging by the fact that Kanon was still healing me, I assume I haven't been out for long. It is strange though. The situation of me being in that white washed room felt so real. It couldn't just have been a dream.

"Great! Well, let's get back out there!" Kanon's enthusiastic voice snaps me out of my thoughts and I grab my Arc, which had fallen to the right of me, and head back into the fight; opting to attack via Gun Form for a while before resuming my melee attacks.

"Jackal!" As I slash at the downed Aragami's tentacles, I hear a voice calling my name. At first, the voice reminds me of the white washed room but I realise that the voice was more than likely a shout for my to avoid an attack. I look around my immediate vicinity to see where the Aragami is attacking from but don't see anything and thus, resume my slashing.

"Jackal!" I stop my angry onslaught of attacks and make sure to step away from the Aragami so that I am a reasonable distance away while I turn to check who shouted my name. I see that the 1st Unit has arrived with Robin leading the way to me.

"Thank God you're here." All the anger in my voice dissipates as Robin and the group consisting of Alisa, Soma and Lindow appear. The three of them look to be slightly bruised and out of breath. I wonder if they had to run all the way here from where they were taking care of a smaller group of Aragami.

"Looks like you've been doing pretty well, Rookie." I ignore Lindow calling rank as Robin takes my interest. Truthfully, I was speaking to her anyway. I see her eyeing up my injury. I lift my shirt up and say that the wound isn't very deep.

"Don't worry, it isn't deep but Kanon bandaged it up for me." I'm not sure if I had stopped her worrying, the fact that her eyes still linger on my chest means that I probably haven't subdued her worries, but we have bigger problems now.

"Let's leave the chit chat until later, right now, we have an Ouroboros to fry." I agree with Lindow on this, and prepare for a fight. Now that I have melee support, it should go down in minutes.

I was right. Only another five minutes after they arrive, the Aragami falls into an unmoving heap. I breathe a sigh of relief that the whole ordeal is over.

"Well, seeing as how Jackal dealt the most damage, I think he has the right to devour its core." Taking Lindow up on his offer, I aim my Arc and devour its core. The rest of the God Eaters had already began walking back. After my Arc had devoured its core, I started walking towards the group. I notice that Robin had waited a little bit further ahead and occasionally gives me a few glances. Probably just to make sure where I was. Truthfully, I wanted to walk with her anyway. I wanted to have a chat with her as well. I had to do something first though.

"Naoki, the monster has been defeated." I inform him, slowly closing the distance between Robin and I. "It put up a good fight but-"

"Are you sure it's dead?" His question confuses me.

"Yeah, I devoured its core. I'm sure it's dead." I tell him with confidence. There's no way that the Aragami could survive without its core.

"It's still on the radar-" Naoki's protest is interrupted by Robin suddenly shouting.

"Jackal!" I look to her to see panic on her face as she runs towards me with her God Arc ready. What could she possibly be doing? - Unless... I turn around to see the Ouroboros in a very much alive. The next few moments pass by in slow motion. Robin runs in front of me and deploys her shield. It is only after I see the tentacles heading straight for us that I realise what she is doing. Without being able to prepare my own shield, the Aragami launches its tentacles towards us. However, with Robin being in front of me by quite some distance, all of the tentacles head towards her. At that moment I realise that Robbin is in very big trouble. Her shield is too small to deflect all of the Aragami's tentacles which means only one thing. Robin will definitely be hit by them. Knowing this, a sinking feeling develops in my stomach. It feels as though my heart has moved to my abdomen with a sickening, chilling blow. My legs feel numb as the tentacles move towards her at an tauntingly slow pace. I try to move my legs in an attempt to get in front of her to protect her but my legs won't cooperate. They seem to be rooted to the spot. Upon realising that I can't move, I begin to feel fear as the tentacles reach Robin. She attempts to block the tentacles. However, her shield is too small to stop all of them so many of them hit the areas that her shield cannot protect, mainly her head and legs. Suddenly, the slow motion stops and the force from the tentacles smashing into her makes her fly by me. All I could think about was how Robin had saved me from meeting the same fate; possibly an even worse fate since I didn't know that the Aragami was still alive until she rushed to protect me. I sprint over to her as, thankfully, the God Eaters that were with us had already paid attention as to what was happening as soon as Robin had shouted my name and, within seconds, they are in front of us. I hold Robin's injured form as she bleeds profusely, making sure not to aggravate her injuries further.

"Robin?! Speak to me?!" I shout in a desperate attempt to keep her from blacking out, knowing that if she did so, there'd be a chance that she won't wake up.

"Take her back to the Far East!" Alisa instructs and I didn't wait a second longer to do just that. The numbness that I felt before, I could still feel now but that won't stop me in getting her the help she needs. I sprinted with her in my arms, making sure to be careful of her head wound that was pouring of blood. I stop running once I get a safe enough distance away to rip off the arms of my shirt and wrap them around her head like a bandage to try and stop the blood from pouring out. After doing so, I continue to sprint back. I trust the other God Eaters to take care of the Aragami. They've been doing this for longer than I have and it looks like they've ran into this situation before.

I run back some of the way before seeing the vehicle that is bringing the next group of God Eaters to the fight. After quickly explaining the situation, they get out of the car and I get in with Robin in my arms. I make sure to try to stop the bleeding of her wounds before explaining the situation to Naoki. He tells me that Alisa had already called ahead of me and explained the situation. He informs me that the medical team are already waiting to receive Robin. After ending the conversation, I clutched onto Robin's injured form and made sure to support her head as we travelled at a fast pace in the car,, knowing that any sort of trauma suffered by this could change her life forever.

By the time we arrive at the Far East, the medical team takes Robin from my arms. Unfortunately for me, or perhaps fortunately, a member of the medical team notices the cut on my chest and makes sure to drag me into the infirmary as well. This makes seeing Robin a lot easier and so, as one member of the medical team works on me, the others are working on her. I continue to look at Robin and see her pained expression. I hate to think it, but it seems even more painful for me since I don't know what to do or how I can help her. I feel so powerless. The last time I felt like this was after the Tsuchinoko attacked us for the first time and Robin was unconscious for many days. I seriously hope that won't happen again.

"We've only got one bag of blood left. It's not going to be enough!" I hear one of the members shout from Robin's position. They didn't have enough blood? What does that mean? Has she lost that much blood that she needed a blood transfusion? I feel like I'm about to throw up. My friend is in desperate need of medical treatment and I hear that there isn't enough blood for her. I look to her face as if hoping that this was some sort of cruel joke. Judging by the loss of colour in her cheeks, I know that it isn't. This just reinforces the feeling of sickness that threatens to overcome me.

"Dammit we need more blood or she won't make it!" The doctor only confirms my fears. There had to be a way for them to get more blood.

"Have you tried cross-referencing the blood types of other God Eaters?" I ask my question in a louder tone than what I'd usually speak in order to be heard.

"You should get some rest, Jackal." The nurse tending to my wounds speaks to me but I dismiss her words as my own had managed to gain the attention of the doctors and nurses working on Robin.

"There are still a few God Eaters in the Den, right? Cross-reference their blood types with Robin's and see if you get a match." I inform them but they don't seem to be doing anything in response. "Well get a move on! My friend's life is at stake!" I shout as I see them not bothering to move. Thankfully though, my shout gives the desired effect and a few of the nurses leave the infirmary.

A few minutes later, they return with what I hope to be some good news.

"Well?!" I asked in a rushed tone. It didn't seem as though these nurses would speak without being spoken to first.

"Only one God Eater is a match." One of them men stammer out.

"You, Jackal, are a match." At the woman's words, my eyes widen slightly. I never expected to have the same blood type as her but this only makes things much better.

"Well take some of my blood then." I speak and almost shout the same thing as they don't seem to be making a move.

"We think that you've already lost too much blood as well." What are they talking about? There was only a slight cut on my chest. How is that losing too much blood? "You haven't lost as much blood as your friend but you have still lost quite a bit."

"If I haven't lost as much Blood as Robin, it means I can still give her some of mine!" I shout in response to the news I was receiving. Did they not know how blood transfusions work?

"If we do that, you might end up having less blood in your system than Robin does now. Do you want to take that risk?" Risk? What sort of thing can too little blood in your veins do?

"If you don't have enough blood, your blood pressure falls drastically and your internal organs could fail." The remaining male nurse explains to me what a lack of blood can do. However, there is one thing that I am certain of,

"Robin risked her life for me. She is only in this condition because I wasn't aware of my surroundings. It is my fault that she is injured so she is my responsibility. Of course I want to take the risk!" I shout my answer. They hesitate at first but the confirmation from one of the doctors still working on Robin makes them set me up to harvest some of my blood. Mid-way into my donation, I begin to sweat heavily and soon find myself blacking out without even knowing if my blood has helped Robin or not.


	16. Chapter 16

Alpha and Omega - Jackal's Story

Chapter 16

In collaboration with Subzero Dragon. Visit their profile to see the other side of this story. Events that aren't mentioned here take part in the other side of the story.

So ends another day with another mission of barely avoiding death. I don't know what has happened lately but there seems to be an increase in the amount of large Aragami that need to be exterminated. Of course, not one of these Aragami was as large as the Ouroboros from my night shift. The Aragami had almost caused the death of my best friend. At the time, I didn't realise just how serious her injuries were. I knew that they were bad but I didn't think they were fatal. Had she been a normal civilian, and thus not had access to God Eater healing abilities, she would have died before the treatment started. Speaking of the treatment, every day since she has been unconscious I have willingly donated my blood, in the event that they would need it for her now or in the future. I can't help but worry about the girl that lies in front of me. Over the past few days, the colour in her face has been returning. I never had time to focus on that before, but just one look at her before and you would think that she was on death's doorstep. I've been told countless times that my blood has been saving her life, but I won't believe it until she wakes up. After all, if she doesn't wake up then my blood would have only been preventing the inevitable. There is still a chance that she won't make it.

I shake my head to prevent the thoughts but only seconds later, new thoughts replace them; all with the same theme of Robin losing her life. I feel a cold shiver run through me with each and every thought. Even my body knows how painful her death will be to me. To be honest, a life without her doesn't seem like much of a life at all. It would be very hard to get over her demise and my abilities as a God Eater would definitely be affected. I expect that I would become a very depressed and cold person.

"You're here again?" A voice I had become accustom to over the time I've been in the Far East snaps me out of my thoughts. I turn to the owner of the voice as he sits across from me; the other side of Robin.

"Did you think I would be somewhere else?" I say with a bit of dry humour. For the past few days that I've been watching over Robin, I've had a person watching over me as well. It feels like that anyway. Just a few days ago, I would have never imagined that Karel would check up on me this many times in my lifetime never mind three days. Every time he does check up on me, it's always the same thing.

"Have you eaten anything yet?" He asks in a somewhat caring tone. I know that it is difficult for him to express emotions such as care but I've gotten used to it and to him over our most recent conversations.

"Yeah. I ate before I came to visit her." Despite the scrutinising look on his face, I was telling the truth. Every time he would ask, he would be met with the same answer and not once did I lie. I had thought about skipping a meal or two to be with Robin in case she had woke up but then I thought that she wouldn't want me to starve myself for her. I can understand why my responses would seem suspicious seeing as how they are the same every time, but this just happens to be something I wasn't lying about. Karel lets out a deep sigh.

"Okay, but what about sleeping? You don't exactly look great." He comments in a rude way but I understand that this is the only way he can speak.

"Don't worry, I've been sleeping a decent amount _and in my room_." I was forced to emphasise the last part. It was the night after the Ouroboros incident when I had decided to sneak into the Infirmary to check up on Robin and, to my dismay, I fell asleep on the chair next to her; the one I'm on now. Unfortunately, that night, Karel was on night shift and had decided to check in with the medical team when he found me sleeping on the chair next to Robin. He wasn't very impressed but I'd rather face him than the entire medical team. Ever since then, I decided to not sneak into the Infirmary and instead I would wait for visiting hours.

"Good. We can't have you snooping around again." He speaks with a small smile on his face, it seemed almost mischievous. "So..." He speaks again as he tries to collect his thoughts. "I'll be blunt, Jackal." He speaks in a tone that mirrors his words. His sentence intrigues me as I wait for him to continue. "Naoki and I have thought that it would be easier with at least two people on night shift. So, every so often, we would like you to fill in one of those roles." Watching Karel squirm whilst having his ever-so-stoic expression on his face is quite amusing and I can't help the smile that overcomes my muscles. Nevertheless, asking for help must have pained Karel. I'll try not to wind him up about it.

"That sounds good. Just tell me when you need me." I dismiss his worries by giving him my answer.

A few minutes of silence pass by, and the two of us revel in it. It was not an awkward silence which is what made the silence really comfortable.

"Thinking about Robin?" Karel's sudden question and topic catches me off guard. The silence had just become awkward. I stare wide eyed at him for a few seconds before his eyes wander around the room. I suppose I had better give him an answer. I'll keep my non-lying streak up with him as well.

"Not then but before you arrived I was." He raises an eyebrow as if to tell me to continue and I begin to wonder whether I had said too much. In the end, I deem that I have but maybe it would do me some good to speak my thoughts to someone.

"Actually, I was thinking about what my life would be like if Robin never wakes up." I see Karel assume a position that tells me that he is listening intently. It's a welcome change from his usual leg crossed over the other position. With a roll of his hand, he tells me to continue. I find it fascinating that he would pay so much attention to my thoughts. I don't know why he would though. I wonder if he feels some sort of obligation to listen to me because I accepted to work the night shift occasionally. "I was thinking that a life without Robin wouldn't really be much of a life." I ignore the sly smirk that crosses his face and continue, "I'd be depressed and cold... You know... I'd probably be like Soma." I humorously commented. "It does make me wonder though," I speak in a serious voice again, "what was my life like before Robin entered it? You know about my amnesia, right?" I ask Karel.

"Yeah, I think everyone in the Den knows about it."

"The farthest back I can remember would be waking up in the middle of nowhere. After a bit of exploring, I ran into Robin." I hadn't really given much thought about my life before my amnesia after running into Robin and becoming friends with her. However, now, I wonder what kind of life I left behind. Would I have been better off? Is there somebody waiting for me to return? But first and foremost, what is my name?

There is also the fact that Robin has a different coloured Armlet compared to mine. I understand that hers is blue because she became a God Eater back at The Valley, but I've always had a red Armlet. Before I came across Robin, I had noticed my red Armlet. What I didn't know is how it got there. Surely, that means that I was registered with another Branch, right? But how many Branches have red Armlets? The Far East makes one but how many others? After all, I wasn't registered with the Far East before so that means at least one other Branch has red Armlets. I decided to voice this to Karel.

"I won't lie, I have thought about that before. It must mean that you were a God Eater before you met Robin." He speaks as he reclines into his seat. His words reassure my thoughts. However, any further words were interrupted by a newcomer.

"Visiting hours are over now. You must leave." The nurse informs us before checking the machines near Robin, probably checking up on her signals. With much reluctance, I stand from her bedside and leave with Karel right behind me.

"What will you do now?" He asks me but to be honest, I don't know. He will be starting night shift soon, I think it might be a bit too late to join him today. If I were to do so, I'd definitely fall asleep out there. I mean, if I thought I would be going on night shift then I would have wanted to get some sleep before I did.

"I have no idea. Maybe I'll go and speak with the Director... See if he knows anything about my past or even which Branch I was from." I tell him with a scratch of my head before wishing him luck on his shift and heading towards the director's office.

Unfortunately, when I arrived, I noticed a sign put up outside of his door that read 'Important Meeting in Progress'. I wouldn't be able to speak with him today then. I would need to wait until tomorrow. Knowing this, I headed back to my room seeing as how I had nothing else to do.

After an hour of attempting to sleep, I deemed the task impossible. I had too much on my mind. Lingering on my mind were my questions from earlier. I have no idea what I was like before my amnesia or if I am being missed. I hate to think that I am causing someone pain and grief by my absence. However, it is not the main reason for my inability to sleep. Robin is front and centre to occupy my thoughts. It's been a few days since the Ouroboros attack and she hasn't woken up. I was close to losing her but thankfully, my blood helped her pull through. I haven't needed to give any blood today. She mustn't have needed any more. That was good news; especially since she is a haemophiliac. It's easy to forget that fact. Even on the battlefield, when she was injured, I had forgotten all about her haemophilia. I could have at least covered her cuts up sooner and she may not have lost as much blood. However, that's in the past now, but I'll remember it for the future. I should check up on her though. There is still a chance that the Infirmary machines aren't picking up on something which is why she won't wake up. Hopefully, she'll be awake when I visit her.

Arriving at the Infirmary, I notice the sign on the door that says that visiting hours are over. I hear that my breathing has increased with the situation of sneaking into the Infirmary. I could feel my hands becoming more slippery as I placed one of them on the handle. Almost instantly, it slipped off. I would have to calm myself down. I know that I wasn't like this the last time I had sneaked into the Infirmary. Maybe I'm only like this because I was caught sneaking by Karel. I must be fearing being caught again. With a steely breath, I rotate the handle and push the door open.

"Where do you think you're going?" The sudden voice to the right of me almost causes me to have a heart attack. I turn to the person in a desperate attempt to get away with sneaking in, but find out that their face is almost completely sealed by the darkness. The only light comes from the machinery inside of the Infirmary but it's just enough to illuminate certain parts of his face, although they remain indiscernible. Noticing that I am yet to answer, the person moves closer to me. That's when I realise that I won't be able to get away with sneaking this time. In front of me stands a man with short grey hair with a colourful Japanese yukata. The very man I had wanted to see not too long ago. Now though, is the worst time to see him. I can't tell if the smile on his face is one that he usually wears or a more mischievous one.

"Ah, I get it. You're worried about your friend." He seems to shrug his shoulders and raises his hands to a higher level than them as if to emphasise his action. I remain standing in silence, although my face probably shows surprise and horror at seeing him there. "I'll let you see her whilst I carry out her check-ups." He speaks kindly and places a hand on my shoulder, directing me into the room. I must admit that I had never expected him to let me enter the room. I thought I was going to get shouted at, at the least. Possibly even being put into this branch's equivalent of solitary confinement. Although it would probably be better than The Valley's version of it - just an empty cage really. I don't bother to speak and let the director guide me into the Infirmary; fearing that he would change his mind if I were to speak up.

I sat at Robin's bedside, being unable to move my focus away from the director despite visiting Robin. I couldn't help but watch as he carried out the check ups that ranged to simple documentation of computer results to extracting blood. The latter of which greatly concerned me.

"Should you really be taking blood samples?" She had recently lost a lot of blood which mine had to replace but there's also the fact that she suffers from haemophilia.

"Ah, don't panic, Jackal. I only need a sample of her blood to make sure that there is nothing we have missed." His statement does the opposite of what he wants but I try not to let it on. I heard he was a doctor before becoming the director so I should trust him more, but the thought of living without Robin crawls into my mind again. "I'll need time to analyse this." He speaks before heading towards the, still open, Infirmary door. "You should be-" He stops speaking abruptly as we both hear a few voices from not too far away. I knew what that meant, so I had to quickly wrap things up and do what I originally came here for.

"Robin?" I squeeze her hand. I know that she may not be able to hear me, but on the off chance that she can... "Can you hear me? Squeeze my hand if you can hear me." A simple instruction would get a simple answer. She wouldn't need to speak and would be able to conserve what little energy she has. I continue staring into her face. She doesn't look troubled but she doesn't look peaceful either. It is rather concerning- Wait. Did I feel her squeeze my hand?

"I think she's coming around!"I couldn't help but smile at this and tell the Director. He remains in the doorway, seemingly obstructing the view out of the Infirmary and therefore into it. He is doing me a big favour right now. I should probably get a move on. I can come back to see Robin in the morning but I need to know that Robin is okay first. "Can you open your eyes? Look at me." The moment her eyes open, I almost burst into tears of happiness. I dare not to speak my gratitude that she had awoken though, if I were to do that then I would soon see the owners of those voices that are steadily getting closer.

"Jackal?" her voice was quiet and raspy but that is to be expected. I frown slightly when I see her flinch in pain. Nevertheless, my delight never left my face, or tone for that matter.

"Robin! I'm so glad you woke up." I stood up after these words. If I were to hear a response then I have no doubt that we'd get into a long conversation and, as much as I want it, I need to leave the Infirmary as soon as possible. "I shouldn't be in here, but I couldn't not check on you. You look exhausted, so I'll let you sleep. Rest and get better, okay?" I made sure to lower her hand to the bed before sprinting out of the room. Thankfully, the director had noticed the sound in the room and had moved out of the way of the door. I ran behind the vending machine as I waited for the voices to pass. As luck would have it, they would be nurses and they would happen to speak with the director. I take this as my opportunity to sneak away. I give a salute to the director to show my thanks that he provided me with a distraction, before heading up the stairs. The lift would take too long to arrive at this floor so the stairs were my only option where I took them to the floor with my room on it and fell asleep with a happy smile on my face, knowing that Robin is safe.

Unfortunately for me, as I wake up the next day, I realise that visiting hours are quite late into the day. That means I would have to complete a mission before seeing her, something which I really want to do. I complete my morning rituals and eat my breakfast before speaking with Hibari regarding a mission. For today only, I decide to take an easy one but opt to walk to the destination instead. This means that, by the time I get back, I should be able to visit Robin. With this in mind, I gather my things and prepare for a long walk to the Tranquil Temple.

It takes me twenty minutes to walk to the Tranquil Temple and things seem far from its namesake. There are numerous small Aragami picking away at something whilst a Gboro-Gboro feeds on something else across the other side of the place. I ponder over what course of action would be best to take. If I kill the Fallen Ogretails, then I will be able to kill the Gboro-Gboro without any interference from them. However, the medium-sized Aragami could hear me trying to kill them but if I kill it first, I would just need to make sure that the Fallen Ogretails can't see me. Yeah, that would be the better option. With my plan of action decided, I creep towards the Gboro-Gboro.

Unfortunately for me, the only way I could get to the Gboro-Gboro would be to sneak by the smaller Aragami. I take a few deep breaths to calm myself before almost hugging the wall furthest from the Aragami as I continue creeping. One foot in front of another but it seems that, no matter how soft I try to make my feet hit the floor, the snow covering it makes for a crunch every time I step onto it. I make sure to keep my eyes locked onto the three Fallen Ogretails as each crunch stifles some movement from them. It is only a matter of time before they decide to look up and see me not too far away from them. Thankfully, the screaming of their meal drowns out some of the sounds I make as I walk. However, the pained screams of its snack grabs at my heart. Even Aragami don't deserve to be eaten alive.

My heart races as I get to the shortest distance away from them; directly opposite, nevertheless I carry on. I ignore the painful sounds of my heart thumping in my ears and opt to speed up slightly. The crunching sounds become more audible but as I reach a corner, I dive into it and the ground under me makes one last, very loud crunch as I do so. It would definitely attract attention, but seeing as how the Aragami can't see me, they should go back to eating what they were eating. I never got a chance to see it, but it was probably another small Aragami. Anyway, now that I have crept by the Fallen Ogretails, I can get to the Gboro-Gboro without any trouble. Thus, I continue creeping, although at a faster pace than before.

Within a few minutes, I come across the Gboro-Gboro still munching on something. I see now that it appears to be the rotting, half-chewed carcass of a Polar Kongou. I never would have thought that a Gboro-Gboro could kill a Polar Kongou but I guess this world is full of surprises. Regardless, it's time to kill an Aragami!

I change my Arc to Gun Form and fire three OP depleting bullets but it is all worth it for the damage it causes. As the bullets connect with the beast, I can see the damage they inflicted due to the fact that they've caused burn marks on the beast's fins. It looks like I've found the Aragami's weak points. I sprint at the beast that has only just managed to turn around and side step its sweeping motion with its fins, making sure to slash at them as it turns. I back step a few times as its mouth gets too close to me. Once it has stopped thrashing, I run towards the monster again brandishing my Scythe and slashing non-stop as I run circles around the monster; hitting its fins, a few teeth and tail. It falls to the ground, still breathing, but I take the opportunity to assault the Gboro-Gboro's dorsal fin. I'm forced to jump to reach it and I continuously slash with every jump. Before the Aragami picks itself back up, I manage to unbind its dorsal fin. I immediately step back as it lets loose a loud roar, I know it's only a matter of time before the Fallen Ogretails stumble upon us, so I decide to get the Aragami's attention by shooting at it with the intention of dragging it further away from the Ogretails.

I carefully avoid each of its thrashing attacks and continue to pull the Aragami away from the smaller ones. Every so often, I look behind me to make sure that I am not cornering myself or dragging me into an area where I can be easily ambushed. These are the times that I am most at risk. At any moment, I can lose my footing or the Aragami can suddenly attack. Or my attention can be taken away by the sight of an abandoned God Arc. I blink in astonishment at the clearly abandoned Arc before my attention returns to the monster that is growing ever so close to me. Deeming this area to be far enough from the Ogretails, I decide to resume my attacks. I run straight towards the Aragami's mouth which it widens in greed. At the last second, I perform a feint and strike its fins.

In a matter of seconds, the Aragami crumbles to the floor in an unmoving heap. I extract the core and make sure to devour the corpse a few more times just to make sure that it can't get back up, before moving towards the abandoned God Arc. It is bright red and appears to be in the shape of a large hammer. I move my head and look around to see if I can find the owner of the Arc but there is nothing in sight. Finding no other alternative, I attempt to call up Hibari.

"Hibari? Are you there?" I repeat these questions a few times before finally getting a response.

"Jackal? Is there a problem?" She sounds surprised to hear from me. Probably because she didn't expect me to call her up seeing as how I am on a low levelled mission.

"Yeah, I've just found a God Arc out here." I inform her, making the confusion I feel known to her through my voice.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Does anyone else have a mission in the Tranquil Temple?" I try to remain calm, but the fact that a God Eater could be running around without their Arc is alarming and worrying. I move away from the Arc to see if the owner is somewhere nearby. Maybe they are just trying to find it.

"No. Not that I know of." That was strange. Why would there be a God Arc around here if nobody was on a mission? Despite the confusion I feel though, I also feel dread. It can't be good news to find an abandoned Arc. "What does it look like?"

"I've moved away from it now to see if I can find its owner, but I noticed that it is bright red and looks like a hammer." I inform her as I move down the stairs and round a corner, only to find a Fallen Ogretail right in front of me. "I'll need to call you back, Hibari." I cut the connection between us and proceed to eliminate the three Aragami in the area.

The three of them go down without so much as me breaking a sweat. As soon as I had finished killing them, I restarted the connection to Hibari.

"Have you found out anything yet, Hibari?" I continue walking around as we speak.

"Not yet. I haven't received any word of other God Eaters being in the area." I hear her typing rapidly on the computer keys but get distracted by seeing red against the snow. A whole trail of red actually.

"Hibari, be prepared to send out a medical helicopter. I've just found a trail of blood." I tell her calmly although my heart is racing. I quickly follow it and see a revolting sight...

I remember how I crept past the Fallen Ogretails and how I forced myself to ignore the sounds of the Aragami they were snacking on... The thing is, they weren't snacking on an Aragami. In front of me sits the mauled remains of a God Eater. I cover my mouth in disgust and feel something crawl up my throat. Suddenly, whatever was in my throat comes up with tremendous force that I find myself being unable from stopping the sick from landing on the corpse. It makes the sight a lot more gruesome seeing as how the person doesn't even have all of their limbs and the ones they do have has small pieces of flesh between the bones. It leaves a large puddle of blood and vomit. The sight makes me vomit again.

"JACKAL?!" It's only now that I hear Hibari screaming at me, "WHAT'S GOING ON?!" I continue looking at the body as I speak in disgust and disbelief.

"I've found the owner of the Arc." Before letting Hibari assume that the person is still alive, I break the news to her without so much as inhaling; so within the same breath, I speak, "They're dead. There's no need for a medical helicopter." After voicing my thought, I threw up again before resuming. "The most alarming thing to me though," it was a bit easier to speak now, "his Armlet is blue." There is only one place that I know where God Eaters receive blue Armlets and that is the place that Robin and I were at before being transferred to the Far East, and that is The Valley. There is a chance, that one of us knew this person. That is what is the most unsettling.

I arrived back at the Far East about 40 minutes later and headed straight for the bathroom. I wanted to see Robin but I had to make sure that I wouldn't enter the Infirmary looking as though I've been awake for five nights in a row. I'd imagine that, after seeing the dead body of who could have been a friend, I wouldn't look very good. Entering the bathroom, I make sure to splash water on my face and form my signature smile. As soon as I do so, I can immediately see through it. I may look to be in better condition but I can't smile after seeing a dead body. My hands feel painfully cold and there is a tightness in my chest. Nevertheless, I need to visit Robin. She must be lonely without me.


	17. Chapter 17

Alpha and Omega - Jackal's Story

Chapter 16

In collaboration with Subzero Dragon. Visit their profile to see the other side of this story.

Despite the recent mission, or perhaps in spite of, I had to see Robin. Something about seeing the corpse of another God Eater with a blue Armlet just made me feel anxious as well as nauseated. So many scenarios passed through my head. Almost all of which had the end result of Robin lying in place of the corpse. I would shake my head of these thoughts but I'd never be able to escape them. The other thoughts I would have resolve around the person's identity. Whilst I do not know it, I don't want to find out. This person could have possibly been a friend of mine or Robin's and I don't think we could tolerate hearing about the death of a friend. Maybe I should just keep this a secret from Robin. In her condition, I doubt she'd want to hear that somebody from the facility we were from had died in combat. Yeah, she doesn't need to know.

Walking to the Infirmary, I am just about to reach for the handle when I see another person's hand reach out instead. I step back in slight shock. I must have been in so deep of thought that I hadn't noticed this person. I look up to the person and find the owner of the hand to be a doctor. The woman must have noticed my shock as she looks back at me with an almost critical gaze.

"Oh, sorry. I'm just visiting my friend." I quickly apologise to her but she doesn't move.

"You're visiting Robin, right?" The woman speaks so suddenly and in such a stern voice that I can't help but feel somewhat inferior to her. Maybe it's just the air that she holds but she doesn't seem to be the friendly type. I nod my head a few times to confirm my answer. Something about this woman reminds me of Ms. Amamiya. Maybe they have similar roles. "You do know how badly injured she is, yes?" Once again, I nod my head to confirm. It would be hard to forget how injured she really is. I was the one that brought her back to the Far East. I felt so helpless in that situation; knowing that she is a haemophiliac and could possibly bleed to death. Yet, all I could do was to cover her wounds and apply pressure to them in an attempt to stop as much blood escaping from her, at the time, cold, fragile body. "Even we don't know what effects this could have had on her. With that much blood being lost, I'd be surprised if she hasn't suffered some kind of brain damage." I wasn't prepared to hear that, yet I should have expected it. With less blood, less oxygen reaches the brain which can cause brain damage. Truthfully, I'm beginning to have second thoughts about visiting Robin. She seemed fine the last time I had seen her but we didn't really have a long enough chat to see if she had suffered. I hold a hand to my head as I realise just what this means. If Robin is suffering from brain damage, not only her life, but my life will change as well. Being her friend, I would need to do things such as helping to feed her. I have no problem with that, but it wouldn't be very good. For the both of us. No. I will help her even if she has suffered. Just like she has helped me with my amnesia. I suppose the only way to check if she is suffering will be to check for myself. Now that I've been prepared for the worst, I won't be shocked if it comes to that. "Just make sure that you are careful." She speaks before finally opening the door and stepping through it. I follow after her immediately.

I head straight towards Robin's bed and am surprised to see her eyes wide open and looking in our direction.

"It looks like she's awake." I hear the doctor speak, "Remember what I told you. We still don't know the full extent of her injuries. Don't be shocked if she acts out of character." I notice that she sits near the door, a notepad and pen with her.

"I know but I have to try." I was determined. Nothing would make me not be there for her during her time of need. "She's always been there for me through my amnesia. The least I can do is repay the favour." I turn my attention to the person of my thoughts and sit on a chair at her bedside.

"Hey, Robin. How are you feeling?" I ask her with a soft voice. For all I know, she may have only just woke up a few minutes ago, I doubt a loud voice is something she would want to hear right now.

"Not great. My head really hurts." I didn't need to understand her words to hear how pained she sounded. I could hear a slight groan before and after she spoke. Nevertheless, I offer her a small smile.

"I bet it does. I'm glad you seem a bit better today. Last time I saw you, you could barely talk." I smile as I begin to believe my own words. She may be in pain but it seems like she's healing. I wait for Robin to speak but she just stares at me. Well, I guess I'll let her stare for now. Maybe she's just happy that I am visiting and enjoys my company.

"What happened to me? I don't remember anything past an attack warning… after then it's just blank." That made me worry. She didn't remember?

"Wait, you don't remember anything about the night attack?" I enquire, just to make sure I heard her right.

"No." Her confirmation only proceeds to worry me more. Maybe she had lost a bit too much blood and had suffered from a slight bit of brain damage. Either that, or her brain forced her to forget the event.

"How about the Ouroboros? Do you remember that?" Maybe if I ask her if she remembers the Aragami that we fought, she will remember.

"No..." I was beginning to grow cold. The thought that she didn't remember anything from that day. I had to be sure...

"Then... I guess you don't remember saving my life either, do you?" I speak with a sad tinge in my voice that I can't suppress.

"No..." I was expecting that answer. She said she didn't remember, after all. "I... I'm not even sure who you are."

I felt my heart stop. Her words echo in my head.

"I'm not even sure who you are." With each and every utterance, a shiver colder than the last runs up my spine and I feel my eyes begin to water but I blink back the tears and close my mouth that had become unhinged when she spoke that sentence. All of the memories we have with each other... and she doesn't remember any of them. I dial down the expressions on my face. Surely if Robin had noticed them she would become upset that her words held such power to almost bring me to tears. Although, she doesn't know who I am.

"She said this might happen." My voice, barely above a whisper. I couldn't stop my head as it rolled down, looking towards the floor.

"Who said what might happen? I don't understand." I could hear the panic in Robin's voice as she spoke. I was worrying her. I need to get my act together.

"C'mon, Robin, it's me, Jackal. You know me, right?" I could hear my own nervousness make my voice shake slightly but it may have been quite enough that she might not have heard.

"Jackal! Of course I know you! I'm glad to see you're well." With her words being the trigger, I could feel my heart begin beating pleasantly warm blood around my body again. I release a heavy sigh.

"Don't scare me like that! I was worried you had some kind of amnesia or something."

"Sorry, I just didn't recognise you for some reason." Yeah, this was Robin. The very girl I've spent my post-amnesia life with. I couldn't help the large smile that came over my face.

"The doctor was just telling me it's a miracle you're even alive. Being a little forgetful is just an inconvenience compared to dying. Don't worry about it."

"A miracle? Was I hurt that badly?" So she still didn't remember anything about that day.

"You really don't remember that mission do you?" I ask her, the smile on my face lessening as she doesn't respond. "Don't look so upset, Robin. I said its fine, right? But about that mission… it didn't end well. I'll still tell you if you want." She nodded and I flinch at the pained expression she makes but I comply with her wishes.

"It happened about a week and a half ago. There was an attack on the Anti-Aragami Wall. It ambushed me while I was on night patrol. The Veterans got called out to subdue it. Alisa told me you forced your way onto the roster and joined them." I smile at this, "Pretty gutsy, Robin. We haven't even beaten a sim Ouroboros before you know."

"I know..." It seemed as though she was beginning to piece together the events that occurred that day.

"You, Alisa, Lindow, and Soma came as backup. I already had some help, but Gina, Karel, and Kota aren't melee fighters. We took it out together." I realise a bit too late that my last sentence isn't 100% correct, but before I can correct it, Robin comments on it.

"So, we beat it?" She smiles happily as she speaks but it falls once she realises I don't smile back.

"That's the bizarre part. I took its core out, just like any other Aragami. But then the crazy thing got right back up." I ignore the shocked expression and speech she gives me as I wonder about why that actually happened. I still don't know what actually happened but I should consult one of the God Eaters that stuck around to fight it. I know it was defeated, but how? I tune back into the real world and hear nothing. I assume that Robin expresses some sort of speech about how that happened.

"I know, right? Crazy. It's true though. It tried to kill me from behind. Probably would've done me in if you hadn't jumped in. You tried to protect me, but it got around your shield. You took a few stray blows, but it really hit you hard in the head. It was bad enough that Alisa ordered me to evacuate you immediately. That attack was harsh enough, but you were losing a lot of blood from your head wound…" The feelings I felt at the time seem to overtake me. "It was terrible, Robin. You almost died in transit." After I speak, I realise that I am no longer looking towards her and am instead looking at my lap. I raise my head to speak to her again,

"They nearly ran out of donor blood on route. I turned out to be a match, so I told them to use mine. And I did it again for several days more. I've been told you probably wouldn't have made it if we just waited for new supplies." I was brightening up again. She survived. That is the most important thing. I should be happy for that.

"Jackal… you saved me?" I smile at her as she comes to terms with the situation. Although, I wouldn't say that I had saved her life. After all, it was because of my carelessness that she wound up in need of my blood.

"I'm really glad you pulled through. I don't know what I'd do if you didn't wake up." Quite honestly, if she hadn't woke up, my life would be hell.

"I..." She almost replies but her speechlessness doesn't let her. "Th... Thank you. And I'm sorry. You wouldn't have had to do that if I was more careful." Being thanked didn't feel right.

"You know, that Ouroboros hit me from behind, right? If you didn't protect me, I wouldn't have stood a chance." I smile at her as I speak, "I never did get the chance to thank you for that. Thank you, Robin. You really saved my bacon."

"I'm glad you're safe." She speaks with a smile before it quickly drops into a more apologetic look, "but I made you worry like that…I'm sorry. I owe you."

"Hey, stop that already." I speak noticing that Robin is hanging her head. I take her hand though and her head rises. "Don't look so sad, Robin. I'm just glad you're alive. So, if I owe you for saving me from the Ouroboros, and you owe me for donating blood for you, let's call it even. No worries, okay?" I tell her with a smile which elicits one from her but maybe that isn't comforting enough... I place a hand on her shoulder. Almost instantly, a flash of images crosses my mind. Images which involve, what looks to be, a younger Robin as well as a young boy that looks to be in trouble on a boat. Suddenly, an image of a gold coloured, tank-like Aragami appears to be destroying the island. I could feel the sorrow and could hear the desperate cries of help from the people on the island. But just as suddenly as the images appear, they stop.

"What... was that?" I hear Robin ask and it takes me a second to realise that we're back in the Infirmary.

"I don't know. It was like I was living your memories or something." I couldn't quite grasp what just happened. Whatever those images were, they weren't mine. I look towards Robin. It is only after I do so that I realise that I am looking at her in a new light. I had never known before that she had suffered an Aragami attack when she was younger. I am quickly snapped out of my thoughts though, when I say Robin flop to the bed.

"Robin?" I say her name as I grab her shoulder and shake it slightly. "Robin, what's wrong? Are you okay!?" She doesn't answer me though, she merely smiles towards me.

"Hey, Doctor! She needs help!" I call to the doctor that I had previously forgotten about whilst talking to Robin. I lower her back to the bed whilst the Doctor, patiently and calmly, walks to the bedside.

"I'll run a few tests on her. Make sure to come back tomorrow." I don't have time to question her sudden politeness as she shoots a glare at me and I sprint out of the Infirmary. One thing was for sure though. I will definitely come back tomorrow.

And so, tomorrow comes around. I wasn't able to get much sleep though. The way that Robin suddenly flopped concerned me. Maybe I was looking too much into this. She may just have been too exhausted. Nevertheless, I can visit her when the Infirmary is open for visitors in 30 minutes. Right now, I suppose I'll check my missions for today.

Thus, following the completion of my morning routine, I headed to the main reception area, otherwise known as Hibari's desk. Once there, I consulted with her about the mission I would be taking part in. Apparently, I will be part of a two man squad. My team member hasn't been decided yet. I suppose that gives me time to prepare for the two magmatic Gboro-Gboros we'll be facing. I'll need a freeze type God Arc. With this in mind, I head to the nearest terminal to see what my options are. In the end, I settle for a similar God Arc to the one I already have with the only differences being that this one has a blue variation to represent its Freeze attribute. With a quick check of the time, I notice that the thirty minutes that were required to pass had passed. I log out of the terminal and head for the Infirmary.

Upon entering, I had sat by Robin's bedside and had a small talk with the doctor that was there. The same doctor as yesterday, I should add. I'd asked her if she knew why Robin suddenly blacked out and she told me of her theory. She also said another thing. Something I will remember always. She told me to limit my physical contact with Robin. A groan pulls me back into reality.

"She's back with us," The doctor must have noticed her groan as well, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay." Robin speaks before taking a sharply inhaling. It sounded as though she was still in pain. I see her starting to sit up and begin moving my hands to help her, but the doctor reaches her first and, instead of helping, pushes down on her to make sure she remains in a lying position.

"Don't get up. I still need to run more tests on you." The doctor spoke and I had to force myself not to look at her because I could feel my face contorting into a glare. Had she just been slacking off? She couldn't have done these tests beforehand?

"Why? What's going on?" I can hear the worry and fear in her voice and extend my hand towards hers. However, midway there, I remember the doctor's words and pull back.

"We resonated the other day. You passed out after that. They said you were just exhausted, but..." She deserved an explanation. I didn't really understand it myself, I was just regurgitating the information the doctor gave me. Robin's history was coming back to me, but I shake my head in an attempt to clear them from my head. It is her history. She didn't want me to know about it. Why? I don't know. Maybe I'll ask her about it later. But I suppose that we all have secrets. Even I do, although I have no idea what those secrets are. I look towards Robin and see a strange, mulling look on her face. She quickly realises that I am staring at her though and speaks,

"I'm okay. I just feel tired."

"That's why I need to run some tests. I need to be sure it really was just exhaustion and not an affect of your head injury." The doctor informs her, saving me the pain of explaining that there may be something wrong with her after all.

"Seriously? I'm getting tired of being in this cot." Her groan makes me smile slightly. Maybe I should bring her drawing materials in here for when she is awake. I doubt she'll be let out any time soon so she'll want to pass the time by drawing. But what could she draw in an Infirmary?

"If it's any comfort, you're healing at a phenomenal rate, Robin. Your normal recovery rate would have seen you out of action for months. At this rate, you'll be able to return to duty in a few more days. Barring any further complications, that is." The doctor didn't think about telling me this beforehand? Why wouldn't she tell me this?!

"I'm healing faster? But how?" Robin speaks her thoughts and, I must admit, I was intrigued as well. It is like the doctor says; a few more days and Robin will be out of here and hopefully never here again.

"Well..." The doctor looks to Robin and I a few times before continuing, "When Jackal donated blood to you, Oracle Cells from his blood mixed with yours. Normally, this isn't even of note, because of the Bias Factor's effect on Oracle Cells. But ever since your resonance, something very interesting happened. We suspect his Oracle Cells activated and assisted you somehow. The fact that you've almost fully recovered from a near-fatal head injury within three weeks is unheard of, even for God Eaters. We don't know if other effects have occurred, so I need to run some tests before I can say this if is completely a good thing or not." The doctor's lengthy explanation was more than my brain could take. I need a less complex reason. Nevertheless, I think I got the gist of it.

"So, what's going on? Are you saying that when we resonated, I healed her?" It didn't make sense. I don't know a lot about resonations, but surely they don't heal people...

"Again, we're still testing things. We'll need to run some tests to be sure of anything." The doctor informs us before proceeding with the necessary things for the tests.

The entire time the doctor takes the tests and takes blood samples, Robin and I are silent and occasionally look to each other. It isn't long before the doctor walks out and I find myself wondering how much time I've spent by Robin's bedside but that isn't the only thought to echo in my head.

"Well, that's unsettling. But the good part is you might be out of here in a few days!" I give her a wide smile as I speak. "I bet you can't wait to be out of here."

"Tell me about it. I feel like a prisoner here." She utters before moving herself into an upright position. I instinctively move my arms toward her in an attempt to help but she manages just fine on her own. "I think I prefer fighting Aragami to this. Thanks for keeping me company. It always makes my day to see you." An intensely warm feeling envelops my heart and with a new found vigour, I reply enthusiastically,

"And with luck, we can fight together soon!" But just as quickly as my enthusiasm rises, it quickly deflates. I realise that this is my chance to ask her about her past. "Hey, Robin? About those memories of yours… how come you never told me about your past or anything?" I notice that the smile drops from her face as well. I didn't really expect her to smile while retelling painful memories so I don't really feel concerned about it.

"I have good memories of Ryukyu of course. But when I think of back then, I always wind up thinking about how I lost my family and my boyfriend. All that was only less than a year ago. I didn't want to bring it up because it hurts." My heart was in pain. Robin had to suffer so much. One minute she had a family, the next minute they were gone and this was less than one year ago too. Fresh wounds. During her explanation though, I noticed that my heart seemed to have dropped into my stomach during one part in particular... The part about her boyfriend. Robin had people that she loved taken away from her by the very creatures that threaten all of humanity's existence; but a boyfriend? I wonder if I had somebody that I loved that much... I can't think about that now though. I had to keep her spirits up.

"Hey, don't make that face. At least you have memories. I wish I could remember something about my past, even if it was painful." I didn't realise that I had referenced my own lack of memories until it was too late. So much for not thinking about that right now. There is nothing I can do about it now though. Despite this, I still have a mission to get to and, depending on the person, I doubt that they'd be happy to see me turn up late. I get up from the chair and stretch out, "Well, it's almost time for my mission. Nothing special today, just a pair of magmatic Gboro Gboros. I'll have it in the bag in no time."

"Be careful out there. You don't want to get stuck in here like me, trust me on this." I chuckle at Robin's caring words. I think I've already been in the Infirmary way too many times. It's like my home away from home.

"I'll take your expert word on it. I'll see you later. Take care, Robin." I give her a smile before heading out of the Infirmary but not before hearing a "you too" from her.

"One down, one more to go, right buddy?" The eccentricity of Kota never ceases to amaze me. We had only narrowly avoided a massive fight with our targets at the same time, instead opting to lure one of the Fallen Gboro-Gboros away from the other to destroy them one at a time. But like he says, one down and one to go. I make sure my Arc devours the defeated Aragami's core before we set out to find the next one.

Walking back to where the Aragami had congregated, we notice that it is no longer in that area so we continue our walk to find the beast. A minute or two later, we find the beast heading towards a corner.

"We should set a trap." I inform him and receive no complaint. Thus, I attempt to be deathly silent and and set up a paralysis trap about one metre behind the target. Now what do I do? I could shoot it and wait for it to run towards us and into the trap, or I could get in a few melee attacks before retreating behind the trap. Yeah, the latter sounds like a good idea. It will inflict more damage as well. Therefore, with my plan having been confirmed, I slash at the tail of the beast a few times, ignoring its roar of pain until it has almost turned towards me. I dash backwards and stop a few metres away from the trap. All the while, Kota shoots from a raised platform. Just as expected, the beast triggers the trap and we capitalise on it.

A full two hours later, and a failed attempt to visit Robin after visiting hours, I unexpectedly get called into the Director's office. I know by now that I shouldn't be panicking, but as he speaks I can't help the fear I feel.

"Do you know why I've called you in here, Jackal?" He seems unusually stern. I find myself thinking that this must be a different person than the person who let me sneak into the Infirmary to check on Robin.

"No, sir." I add the formal address due to my nervousness. I get the feeling that if I were to speak more colloquially then I'd be in trouble. The Director places his elbows on the table in front of him, clasping his hands into each other, all that was missing was an amused 'excellent'.

"Do you remember that you found the corpse of a God Eater yesterday?" He asks and it amazed me that I had indeed forgotten about it until he brought it up. But I suppose nervousness will make you forget things.

"I've discovered that that God Eater was only recently brought into the facility that you and Robin were brought up in." He informs me and I think I get what he is trying to say.

"So, we didn't know that person?"

"Most likely." I let out a breath that I didn't realise I was holding. He reclines in his seat and only adds to the silence. "Speaking of that facility," He wasn't finished? "I've become increasingly more intrigued as to the God Eaters that transferred to here from there." I guess that's an indirect way of saying that Robin and I are interesting to him.

"Tell me, Jackal, do all God Eaters that come from the Valley have blue Armlets?" He asks me a simple question. Simple because I thought he already knew the answer to it.

"Yes, sir." His face contorts into a grin.

"But your Armlet is red." He comments.

"Yes. When I woke up, before stumbling upon the Valley, I noticed that I had this red Armlet. Although, at the time, I had no idea what it was." I explain to him everything that I know of my Armlet.

"That means you were a God Eater before becoming a member of that facility. Tell me, did you have a God Arc when you awoke." I try to think back to that time. For the life of me, I cannot envision a God Arc beside me when I did wake up. I shake my head.

"And you weren't assigned a new God Arc?" Every answer I give elicits a new question. All while the Director's smirk either grows or falls.

"No. One morning, I was told that it was found."

"Hmm... Do you want to hear my theory as to your past?" He had a theory? I am definitely interested. I eagerly nod my head. "Well, I believe that when you awoke for what you remember as the first time, your God Arc was not there." He just regurgitated the information I had given him. If it wasn't for the fact that it looks like he hasn't finished explaining, I would tune him out. "And your God Arc was suddenly found?" I nod my head to answer his question. "I think that the Valley is hiding something from you." That intrigued me.

"Like what?"

"I believe that that facility knows of your real identity. How else would they be able to confirm that a God Arc is yours? They must have contacted your original branch or wherever you were before then, and sent over your God Arc from there." I had to admit, there was a possibility that this was true, but I doubt the Valley would do something like that. The Director notices my silence and decides to speak up. "The people from your former facility may know of your identity and decided to keep it from you. Why? I honestly don't know. Maybe you should have a chat with Robin about my theory." I revise his words,

"You think Robin already knows my identity?" No, that can't be right. The first time we met I terrified her. Surely she didn't... Unless, was she scared of me... because of my past? Had I done something to make her so afraid of me? Now that I think about it, even for a very shy person, they wouldn't suddenly panic like she did. A nod from Sakaki is all I need for the question to echo in my head.

"Does she know my identity?" No! I still won't believe it. I shake my head in order to clear it. Robin is my best friend! There's no way she could hide that from me, right?

"Also Jackal, I have more news." I look to the Director again, not knowing whether to be intrigued by more news or fear it.

"I've did a bit of research of my own. Apparently, the only other branch on this side of the world that gives out red Armlets is the Singaporean Branch." My eyes widen at what he is implying. "Maybe you have some sort of a connection with that branch-"  
"Can you schedule for me to visit?!" I interrupt him, bowing as I ask.

"Unfortunately, I cannot do that."

"What?! Why?!" His simple answer makes me seethe in rage. I may have a lead as to my past. Why won't he let me investigate it?!

"Like it or not, Jackal, you are still considered to be a rookie compared to the rest of your unit." Being called a rookie doesn't sit right with me at all. "So I cannot guarantee that you will return safely."

"What if I bring Robin with me?"

"She too is considered to be a rookie."

"And what about one of the other members? Alisa? Kota?" I'm pretty much pleasing at this point.

"Alisa is the team captain. She cannot be going on trips to another branch for something like this. Kota had family here. He won't want to leave the Far East Branch, even if it is for a little while." I am about to speak up again but Sakaki won't let me, "Soma wouldn't even consider travelling with you and Lindow and Sakuya are a married couple. They wouldn't go with you either." I was on the verge of tears. The one chance I have at knowing my past, and I am not able to investigate. I crumple to the ground, resting on my legs. The weight of them was becoming too much.

"However, I have already gotten in contact with the Singaporean Branch." This takes my attention but I don't raise my head, I'm pretty sure that I can feel tears rolling down my face. "They have admitted to having a few God Eaters with the status of missing in action. They've agreed to send one member of their branch over to meet with you and see if you really are a God Eater from that branch." With new hope, I wipe my eyes and get up from the floor, standing up straight. "When will this person arrive?"

"In the next few days." Is his answer and he dismisses me after uttering it. I finally have leads on my past. The next thing to do is to follow them. The first lead I will follow is asking Robin if she knows of my identity or not. Visiting hours are closed for today though, so it will have to be tomorrow. I have a feeling that these next few days are going to be very long until I get a chance to meet with this Singaporean God Eater. With my leads given, I retreat to my room.

Or I would have had I not remembered about my earlier thoughts about giving Robin her sketch book. Being in an unstable frame of mind right now, I don't think twice about opening the handle to her room and searching for her notepad and drawing tools.


	18. Chapter 18

Alpha and Omega - Jackal's Story

Chapter 18

In collaboration with Subzero Dragon. Visit their profile to see the other side of this story.

That night, I couldn't sleep. There was too much on my mind. The most recent thing that was plaguing my mind was Robin. She caught me in her room and, after a little misunderstanding, I told her of my intentions to give her her sketchpad and drawing utensils. After that though, she had informed me that she was on probation; meaning that she can't undergo solo missions and needs to have at least one other person to be on the team with her. Not only that, everyone included needs to produce a report about the mission and, most likely, include something about how Robin handled the mission. Failure to do so could see Robin being demoted. No longer would she be a God Eater and no longer be able to come with me for missions or I with her. Actually, thinking into it, do I really want Robin to stay on the front lines? She would be safe here and carrying out other tasks if she were to be demoted... I know she wouldn't want to be though. Maybe that's why I agreed to help her with reports. I'm not looking forward to that.

I roll around onto my bed and face the wall, arms underneath the pillow. The dark wall mirrors the peace that I feel in this moment. So why can't I sleep? I wonder if I am still too hung up about me possibly being connected to the Singapore branch. The director is planning on bringing a member of that branch here to confirm if I am originally from there. What happens if I am though? Will I be forced to return? Forced to leave Robin by herself? I don't want that to happen. The dark wall steadily grows darker and my eyelids fall; my last thought being about Robin.

As morning comes, I feel the morning sun warming my body but irritating my eyes at the same time. With much reluctance, I lift my upper body from the bed and notice a lot of wrinkles in my bed sheets. I must have tossed and turned quite a bit. Dismissing that fact for now, I look to my clock. It read as 08:00. There was still an hour before Robin and I arranged to meet up. There's no way I'd be able to go back to sleep now though. The sun is already quite bright and I have no way of blocking it out. At best, I could bathe in the sun, but I do need to get ready too. It won't take long. Ten minutes in the shower and about five minutes to dress myself, eat breakfast and brush my teeth. That would leave me with 45 minutes to spare. Well, I'll decide what to do when the time comes.

The shower was relaxing. Something which I needed after everything that's happened. I don't know whether to be happy or sad at everything in my life so far. Robin's situation means that if she is demoted she'd be safe from Aragami, making me happy, but she wouldn't like that and would be very depressed, depressing me as well. As for my situation, if it turns out that I am from the Singapore branch then I'll have a lead on my past, making me happy, but I will probably be sent back there and need to leave Robin, making me depressed. The shower eased me somewhat, and helped me push those thoughts further away. I wonder if I will meet the Singapore representative today.

After completing my morning routine, I headed back to my room. The clock read as 08:24. It had taken me a bit longer to complete my routine today but I still had plenty of time left. Lying with my back on my bed, I look up to the ceiling. I had forgotten before, but the director thinks that Robin may know something about my past. I'll have to bring that up with her at some point. Maybe not now though, I can wait until she's no longer on probation.

"Hey, Robin. Early as usual, I see?" I greet a surprised looking Robin as I catch her and Alisa together after leaving the lift. I walk over to them.

"Hi Jackal. Alisa and I were just having a chat." Robin greets me back whilst indirectly saying that I interrupted them. Well, whatever they were talking about probably doesn't regard me anyway. They can continue elsewhere. I give a nod and crack my knuckles.

"Cool. So, what's today's target. Chi-You? Vajra? Gboro-Gboro? All three at once?" I ask with a joking smile. Well, what I can make to be one anyway. I didn't realise how much these situations would weigh on me; the only way I can smile is through thinking about Robin being able to participate in missions again.

"Haha, I see Robin's not the only one raring to go." Captain Alisa speaks with a smile before her face contorts into a realisation not three seconds later. "Wait right here. I have an idea for you two, but I need to make a quick call." She briskly walks towards a terminal.

"What's gotten into the Captain all of a sudden?" I speak my question as I continue looking in the direction Alisa sped off in. I never received an answer, but I never expected one either. As quickly as she left, she returned, although now a satisfied smile marred her face.

"And that's settled. Soma has agreed to come with us. Now we have a full roster." Something tells me that Soma isn't going to like the paper work that comes with this mission. Why would he even want to come along anyway? Is it because the Captain asked him? "So, I've been looking at the targets today. I've found one that will be a good test for the both of you."

"And what's that?" I ask curiously. An Aragami that would be a good test for us? That's definitely intriguing.

"It's a Deusphage, a Prithvi Mata to be exact." Alisa looks between us as she explains. "Wanna do it?"

"You bet I do! Let's go!" I was genuinely excited now. Ever since the Ouroboros incident, I haven't had much of a challenge. I know to be very wary of my opponent now though. I don't want to see Robin in the infirmary again.

"Are you nervous?" I hear Alisa speaking and look towards her. The Captain's sudden words had taken me out of my thoughts of the Prithvi Mata. I've never battled against one, but I imagine that it would be easier than facing an Ouroboros. I know that Alisa wouldn't put us up against something like that, especially seeing as how this is Robin's first mission back. "It'll be fine, just you watch. Do what you always do. Remember when you killed that Susano'o? It was a Deusphage too. You'll do fine. You'll prove to everyone that you're capable of rejoining us, all you have to do is believe in yourself." I can only assume that Robin nodded, seeing as how she didn't verbally answer.

"And try not to go kamikaze this time," I can't help but nervously smile as Soma speaks in a brisk voice. It was my fault that Robin decided to, in Soma's words, 'kamikaze' and save me. "That was a giant pain in the ass. Don't inconvenience me again, got it?" He never got a response from her and it didn't seem like Alisa would be responding to him any time soon.

"Thinking about him again, Robin?" Alisa's words, once again, attracted my attention. Who is 'him'?

"I guess I haven't told you yet, have I? About Hinata." Robin speaks solemnly as she notices the confusion on my face. The confusion passes after being given the person's name. When we had resonated, I was given an insight into her past. Hinata was one of the people I had seen in her memories, but why had she told Alisa and not me? I must admit, I do feel a little bit hurt that she didn't think about telling me before the Captain.

"Sort of. You told me a little bit, like how your boyfriend gave his life to try and save you. Is that...?"

"Yeah. It's all I have left of him. Sometimes, I just hold this, especially when I'm scared. It makes me feel like he's watching over me." Robin speaks with her solemn voice. It brightens up slightly as she continues. "I don't want to talk about it right before a fight. I'll tell you the full story when we get back from this mission." It was at this point that I realised that we were descending. We had made it to our destination.

"Okay, it looks like the signal is coming from the chapel area. Please don't come back in the med-evac this time. I don't want to hear about another injury. Stay on guard, and don't let up until the Aragami is dead, okay?" Hibari takes a, not so subtle, jab at Robin for the events of the last mission she was on.

"I'll be careful. Let's go." Robin responds before we continue on our way to find the Prithvi Mata. Taking the far back position, I keep an eye out for the target from the back. I almost walk into Alisa, not realising that the group had all stopped moments before. I look to the person up front to see Soma with his hand up. At this point, I hear the scream of something from inside the ruins. I stealthily walk up to the wall and peek around. The sight reminded me of the cruelties that even Aragami can suffer at the hands of larger Aragami. An Ogretail screaming under the paw of, what I assume to be, the target. The sight was enough to make me flinch. The scream almost made me vomit. I can't recall ever hearing a scream like that before. I was beginning to develop a real distaste to this beast. Especially when seeing it torture the smaller Aragami, devouring pieces of it whilst it is still alive; I guess that even Aragami play with their food. In almost an instant, the Prithvi Mata turns towards us and snaps the Ogretail into two pieces. It charges towards us and I manage to evade it easily. I watch as Robin only just manages to perform a back-flip to avoid it. We aren't allowed a second more to breathe though, as the Deusphage scatters multiple ice shards in our direction. I deploy my shield as quick as I can but still feel the pain of the shards cutting into my arms as they pass by me. I grunt loudly and also hear the pained shouts of my team mates. They mustn't have been able to avoid it either. As quick as I could, ignoring the pain in my arms, I switch my Arc to Gun Form and launch a few Blaze bullets in its direction. I notice Robin rush in afterwards and switch to Melee Form to back her up. However, before I can even move a metre, a blur of gold and red smacks into the Prithvi Mata. Whatever it was looks to have caused a lot of damage. Wait...

"Fuck." I mutter under my breath as I identify the gold and red blur. It was a Garuda.

"What the hell?! Where did that thing come from?!" Soma shouts in surprise and anger.

"This is bad. Everyone, be ready to fight this thing!" Alisa commands, it looks like our target has changed. At least I am with the 1st Unit for support this time, as the last time I was against a Garuda, I was injured fairly badly, and was with members of the 3rd Unit.

"Negative, Alisa, very bad idea! That's a Garuda! It's immune to attacks! Retreat now! Get out of there!" Hibari screams to us. I wasn't equipped to fight a Garuda. I have no qualms with retreating now. Instantly, I turn tail and run.

"Fuck." I mutter again. The Garuda had caught us trying to escape and, no longer interested in the dead Deusphage, decided that we were its next targets. The avian rears its wings back before launching them towards us, unleashing a barrage of icicles similar to that of the Prithvi Mata. I deploy my shield but only manage to block some of the icicles. The rest cut through the skin of everywhere they touch, leaving me with bloodied arms and legs. There's no way that we could fight this thing in the condition we are in. I look towards our only escape.

My heart drops.

Our only escape was barricaded by the icicles that were sent in our direction. I hate to admit it but that was a smart move.

"It cut us off! We can't get out!" I shout to my team mates to inform them of the only choice we have. We need to fight our way through, but how will we manage with an injured team?

"We've got no other choice but to fight!" Captain Alisa speaks sternly and assumes a battle stance. Robin, Soma and I also take up a fighting stance.

"Do we actually stand any chance against it?!" I hated to say it, but I really want someone to tell me that it is possible. Hibari said that it was immune to attacks. So how in the hell will we hurt it? Let alone defeat it? I know that I was able to kill a Garuda, but this looks to be almost double the size of that one. There's no way that I could employ the same method to kill it. Then again, looking around, there is no chance of the Garuda being able to lift us up into the air because of the roof.

"Of course we can!" I look to Robin and see a comforting smile on her face. That's exactly what I needed and Robin knew that. I smile back at her, just knowing that she is confident gives me confidence. I need to keep her in my head though, or else one of us may end up in a similar situation to what she is in now; prohibited from going on solo missions and having to document reports on the undertaken missions.

"What's the plan?" I ask the Captain and see her mulling over her response. I continue to keep watch on the Garuda. It looked to be growing impatient as we haven't moved from the spot, neither has it. A few more seconds pass and its clear to see that the Garuda is getting tired of waiting. It stamps its feet rapidly and makes the ground beneath us unsteady.

"Hurry it up with the plan!" Soma shouts, clearly feeling the same way as the Garuda.

"Give her time to think-" Robin tries to defend Alisa but is sharply cut off by a death glare by Soma as well as direct words,

"We don't have time! Any second now, that beast is going to charge!"

"The Aragami is impatient, can't we use that against it?" I speak up in an attempt to speed up Alisa's thinking process but, like Robin, Soma cuts in.

"And how would we do that? Tell it to wait for a few minutes so we can think of a plan to destroy it? I'm sure that will go down well!" I don't think I'm ever going to get along very well with Soma, especially if he acts like this all of the time. I remember him being a lot nicer after Robin's and my plane crashed just before our first encounter with the Tsuchinoko. Seeing that I don't respond to Soma, he turns back to the beast before brandishing his Arc and charging at it.

"Wait, Soma!" Robin shouts and looks to be ready to charge in after her, but the raising of Alisa's hand stopped her. Alisa didn't seem too worried about Soma; I wonder if he often moved impulsively.

"You two will provide us with cover. Soma and I will attack with our blades." She commands

"But we can do more-" Robin speaks and I agree with her, but it appears that Alisa has made up her mind.

"You've only just been allowed back onto missions. I don't think you're ready to handle this." Alisa interrupts Robin before she can finish her protest.

"Don't worry though, Jackal will keep you company." Alisa adds with a smile before running towards the beast, quite the distance behind Soma. The Garuda easily dodges the few attacks from Soma by flying up to where his blade can't hit it. It lowers itself back down almost immediately after. The Garuda was playing with him, that much was plain to see. Upon hearing Robin shooting a few bullets at the Aragami, I switch my Arc into Gun Form and unload a barrage of Freeze bullets. I'd noticed that the Garuda has a few blue features, this means it current elemental attacks would be Freeze type. Thus, it is weak to Blaze, but for how long will it be. I know that Robin probably shot Blaze bullets, so I will have to adapt for when it absorbs those bullets and changes back to a Freeze type. I wonder how much time it will take for it to absorb and change its elemental type.

"I can't believe this. Returning back to action just to provide backup." Robin groans. Again though, I don't know whether to be happy that Alisa delegated that role for Robin, seeing as how it keeps her away from the monster, or sad because I know this hurts Robin.

"Cheer up, Robin. You'll get your chance sooner or later. In fact, if this mission goes well, you may even be off probation before you know it." I flash her a signature grin. "I doubt many of the other God Eaters can say they've killed a Garuda." Robin looks to think my words over as I keep looking towards her every now and then. She doesn't reply, but she doesn't need to. If she's thinking of something to say, then she isn't focused on defeating the Aragami. I should do the same and stop talking for the minute.

With the addition of another melee attacker, it becomes more difficult for the Garuda to dodge the attacks thrown its way. It also cannot play around as much anymore. Regardless of this though, it still doesn't look like its being challenged. While the bullets are hitting the beast, there looks to be a 1.5 second time period before it can absorb them and use their element. This allows for a short time span for when the bullets are actually effective. I realise that this is beast seems to take longer to absorb the bullets than the smaller one from a while ago. Maybe it has something to do with the size. Also, this Garuda doesn't need to spread its wings to absorb bullets. It seems that no matter where we hit it, it can absorb the bullets.

"We're not getting very far like this!" Robins shouts to us. "Your melee attacks don't even look like they're doing damage!" Alisa backs off from the beast after hearing Robin. Looking harder, Robin is right. Soma and Alisa don't even look to be making a mark.

"Is that even possible, though?! Veteran God Eaters that can't damage an Aragami?!" I shout my confusion so that the two melee attackers can hear.

"Sh-shut up!" Alisa shouts between breaths, "This is our first time against a Garuda!" I suppose she is right. She, like the rest of us, didn't expect a Garuda to show up. We're not prepared for this opponent. Maybe their God Arc's are just not equipped with the right element to defeat it. I suppose that would be difficult though, seeing as how it can change its element.

All of my thoughts halt as the Aragami rises into the air, far out of reach of the melee attackers, but constricted by the roof of the building. I know what's coming next.

"Robin! Melee Form!" I shout, despite knowing that I probably didn't need to, and follow my own instruction to deploy my shield. Just as I thought, the Garuda starts charging towards Robin and I, but we're prepared and it causes minimal damage - pushing past us and landing at the other side of the building. Robin and I quickly turn around and continue our onslaught of bullets as an energetic Soma and fatigued Alisa run by us.

"Maybe we should switch places?" I ask as I hear her run from behind me. It wasn't usual for Alisa to tired after only a few minutes of fighting. I wonder if something is on her mind. Maybe Robin noticed and wants Alisa to tell her. The only way that will happen though is if I can replace Alisa as a melee attacker.

"No, you keep providing support." She says as she wearily runs by me. I have a feeling that it won't be too long before her and I switch, or maybe even her and Robin.

A few more minutes of the same routine, Robin and I shoot different elemental bullets at the monster and Alisa and Soma continue with their melee onslaught.

"Is it possible that the Garuda is immune to melee?" I hear Robin mutter under her breath. It can't possibly be right, right? The other Garuda wasn't, why should this one be? I guess that would explain why it doesn't even look affected from the melee attacks.

"It seems possible. I never knew an Aragami could be immune to a specific form of attacks." I speak to Robin, who seems surprised by my outburst, as evidenced by the cute form of surprise on her face. Cute? Where did that come from?

"I remember that I researched into different types of Aragami back in the Valley. One of them was intangible making it impervious to melee attacks."

"In terms I can understand, please." I ask her, having no idea what she meant by her last sentence.

"It couldn't be affected by blade attacks. Only bullets work. I wonder if the same principle applies here." She informs me and the more I think about it, the more it seems to be right. However, I could not focus on that as the Garuda decides to launch an array of Blaze-cicles in our direction. There isn't enough time for me to switch to Melee Form so I decide to hide, as best I can, behind my gun. Unsurprisingly, it didn't protect me very well and I soon feel the blood dripping down my exposed legs. I guess that it could have been worse, it's not as if the blood is flowing out at an alarming rate. I turn my head to Robin, she had appeared to deploy her shield in time. She must have only just made it. Maybe I should try that next time.

"Jackal! Are you alright?!" I hear Robin shout in worry.

"Yeah, my wounds aren't deep." As if to emphasise the point, I stand without struggle which, seemingly, puts her mind at ease. The two of us continue shooting after an, "are you sure?" from Robin. It warms my heart to know that I'm the object of her concern but it also hurts me that I'm causing her to worry over me. Thankfully, many alarming beeps from my Arc bring me out of my thoughts.

"It sounds like you're out of OP again." Robin comments and I search for another OP capsule.

"Uh oh."

"What 'uh oh'?" Robin asks with a sense of confusion.

"I'm out of OP capsule."

"I'll give you one of mine, hold on." She stops her shooting and tries to find an OP capsule. The absence of bullets doesn't escape the attention of the melee attackers.

"What's the hold up?!" Soma shouts as he ducks under the Garuda's wing.

"I'm out of OP Capsules!" I shout my answer back. The only option I have left is to switch to melee.

"I can't find any!" Robin shouts, making our predicament known to Soma and Alisa. Robin continues searching herself, seemingly adamant on having not used them all.

"Jackal! Swap with me!" I grin at Alisa's command. She's a New-Type God Eater, unlike Soma, so she has access to a gun and, most likely, has stored a large amount of OP from her attacking the Aragami.

"Got it!" I sprint over to the Garuda whilst Alisa runs back to Robin, I make sure to switch my Arc to Melee Form.

Almost instantly upon arriving, my melee attacking has an affect. With a slash, a large cut-like gash forms on its wing.

"It's not immune to melee!" I shout to Robin, knowing that she was wondering that previously. However, as soon as I did so, I notice the tip of its wings change to a red colour - it switched attribute again! My scythe's Blaze attacks won't be very effective and, unlike bullets, I can't freely change its attribute. This is going to be difficult!

Five minutes into my melee attacking and it is clear to see where I've hit the beast, less so for Soma. His fury only grows as he realises it.

"I have an idea!" Robin shouts and, quite honestly, I'm glad that somebody does. It's exhausting work to continuously hit and evade when you know that your attacks aren't very effective but the Garuda's are all life threatening.

"Out with it then!" Even Soma appeared to be fed up with the current rate of progress.

"Everyone, group together over here!" For the slightest of seconds, I look to where her voice is coming from. I see her waving her arm around near the only exit to the building that had been closed off due to the beast's icicles.

"We need to regroup at the icicles." I inform Soma, unsure whether he looked over to where Robin was standing. I back off from the beast slightly, as does Soma, it is now that I throw a stun grenade to the ground. As soon as it goes off, the two of us run over to where Robin, and now Alisa, stand. I guess Alisa must have approved of Robin's plan.

Now that we are all standing near each other while the Aragami is stunned, Robin informs us of her plan.

"We make it charge at us, move away when it's about to hit us, and make it impale itself on its own icicles." Robin speaks with a smile that I rarely see on her. I think it may be a cocky smile.

"Aren't we relying on the Aragami being too impatient that way though." Soma makes a valid point.

"You saw how it was acting before the battle started. It will definitely get too impatient and charge at us." Alisa backs up Robin's plan.

"We'll try it. It may be our only help in this battle." I make sure to vocalise my point and it seems that the rest agree with me. A close roar from the Aragami suggests that it's moving towards us. Turning around, we get ready to play the waiting game - I wonder how Soma will cope.

Five minutes of silence pass by with not even one of us, God Eater or Aragami, making a move. In order for Robin's plan to work, we need to make sure that the Aragami is the first to move; meaning that we cannot move from our spots until it does. I keep looking towards Soma every so often, beside me. I can see that he is getting cold feet, he is visibly shaking to destroy this Aragami. After a few more minutes pass, it gets to the point where I have to extend an arm out to keep him from running at the Aragami. This was the right call, the beast grows enraged as I stopped Soma from charging ahead and, instead, it charges. All according to plan.

The four of us wait until the last second before evading the charge. I only just manage to evade it properly; my foot was almost caught on the Garuda's wing. Thankfully, it missed. I turn quickly as I hear loud crashes and smile at the sight. The Garuda had been pierced in several places, the best of which being in the engraved marks all over its body - the very thing that helps change attribute - has become disconnected. Other places include heavy damage to its wings and, remarkably, I can even see part of its core. My smile grows wider - the end is near.

After the beast had recovered, it turned towards us and it was clear to see that playtime was over. I look at the tips of its wings and see that they are blue - it is locked on the freeze attribute. It must have tried to absorb the first icicle that it was exposed to. Regardless, we were prepared to deal with a Freeze-type Aragami. This should be over in seconds.

It was. As soon as we were able to, we unleashed everything we had against the monster. Robin had joined Soma and I in melee attacking. She must feel great that it was her idea to impale the Garuda on its own icicles. That's definitely something to write about in the mission reports. Anyway, as soon as it was defeated. We each made sure to devour it. This was on my request. It was entirely within the realm of possibility that the Garuda had multiple cores. This was just to guarantee that it was dead.

"I wonder why our Arcs had no effect." Alisa speaks, her head directed at Soma.

"Maybe the rookies have an upgraded Arc. We should ask Licca about it. She might know." Soma responds in a way that I'm not very familiar with. He sounded intrigued. He definitely wasn't when fighting the beast.

"Shouldn't we tell Hibari about this?"

"Right you are, Robin. I'll call her now. Why don't the three of you start heading out?" At Alisa's request, the three of us do start heading out. It was beginning to feel constricted in there. I can't wait for some fresh air.

You can imagine my surprise that, when we get out there, we see a lone figure standing a few metres away from the entrance. We walk over to this figure. As we approach the person, their figure becomes more apparent. It was the figure of a girl but I couldn't figure out what she was wearing. However, any attempts to look over the tall girl's attire, she barrels into me, knocking me off of my feet as she shouts,

"Azrail!"


	19. Chapter 19

Alpha and Omega - Jackal's Story

Chapter 19

In collaboration with Subzero Dragon. Visit their profile to see the other side of this story.

"Azrail?" I manage to squeeze out before the girl pounces onto me. I fall flat on my back and land awkwardly against the ground. It doesn't help that the girl on top of me snuggles into me and makes me grind against the ground as well. I grunt awkwardly before finding the strength to forcefully push her off. As soon as I had, I scurry away from her, just in case she decides she hasn't finished squeezing the life out of me.

"What's Azrail?" I hear Robin speak from beside me with a hint of confusion. I must have subconsciously scurried in her direction when trying to get away from this girl.

"And who are you?" I chip in as I get up from the floor. These last few seconds had been pretty confusing. After managing to kill the Garuda, we suddenly find ourselves at the mercy of woman clad in a modest-length red dress that hugs her, dare I say it, enticingly curvaceous frame. She adorns a soft, innocent-looking face as well as long, brown hair, the fringe of which covers most of her forehead. The woman opens her mouth as if she is about to speak but stops as we hear a set of footsteps.

"Did you just leave Alisa in there?" She asks so casually but also suspiciously. How does she know Alisa? Has she been watching us? Now that I think about it, how is it that we run into her, or her into me, right after the mission?

"How do you know Captain Alisa?" Robin speaks up, seemingly thinking along the same lines as me. The woman doesn't answer and merely looks to where Alisa emerges from the building.

"The helicopter is on its way." She says between breaths as she runs towards us. "Oh, Lucia? I didn't know you were here." She speaks with a surprised expression, but I doubt her surprised expression could beat mine. Possibly even Robin's if I had bothered to check. After a few seconds in which Alisa and the girl now known as Lucia begin a conversation, I regain my composure and look towards Soma. Surely if he knew that Alisa knows the girl then he would have said something. Actually… since he is Soma, I should have expected nothing from him. I give a heavy sigh before walking towards him.

"You could have saved us a lot of trouble if you had just said that you knew her." I speak in a voice slightly above a whisper, patting his shoulder to let him know that I am talking to him rather than Alisa, despite being a few metres away from the woman catching up with Lucia. I turn my head backwards to see that Robin has decided to join the two females, though I can't quite hear what they're talking about.

"You could have saved us a lot of trouble if you were the one to start the attack." He speaks back in a deep voice.

"What are you talking about?" I enquire with confusion lacing my voice. He shrugs off my hand that was still on his shoulder.

"If you were the one to lead the attack, we could have defeated that Aragami a long time ago." He angrily states. I blink in surprise before I can formulate a response.

"You aren't… really? Soma, that's just petty." I don't even dignify him with speaking to his face. Thankfully, I don't need to as the helicopter appears overhead. I walk towards it as it reaches the ground, only to feel a large weight almost make me topple to the ground. "Woah!" I turn my head to see Lucia on my back. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"I must admit that I'm surprised as well." I hear Alisa speak. I struggle as I look in her direction and see the shocked face of Alisa as well as Robin. Even Soma stares at us.

"She's your friend, right? Get her off of me!" I try to throw Lucia off of my back, but she somehow manages to stay on.

"Lucia, maybe you should…" I can see Alisa's going to be no help in this.

"Sorry about this…" I whisper, hoping she hears it, before I begin walking backwards, and eventually run backwards into a wall…

Let's just say that my method of doing things wasn't very appreciated; and, along the ride home, Lucia ignored any questions coming from me, including questions about what an "Azrail" is as well as why she was here.

Upon arriving back at the Far East, I had already thought of a possibility as to why Lucia was here. So, immediately upon landing, I set off towards the Director's office.

"Director Sakaki?" I knock on his door a few times.

"Jackal? Come in." He seemed surprised to hear from me. Regardless, I walk into the room and stand in front of his desk.

"So how did you fare in that mission? I heard you had a surprise encounter." He smiles as he clasps his hands together in anticipation for me to speak.

"Two surprise encounters actually…" My face contorts into a nervous one.

"Oh? Please tell me about them."

"Well, the first one was the Garuda and, with a plan devised by Robin, we were able to defeat it. For some reason though, Alisa's and Soma's God Arcs weren't very effective against it, but Robin's and mine were."

"That is very interesting. Was there anything different about this Garuda compared to the last one you fought?" He enquires with a serious look. "You're probably better off asking Robin about that. I think I'm more focused on the second surprise encounter."

"Hmm… Very well, I'll ask Robin about it soon." He speaks seriously before regaining his smile, "what was this second surprise encounter?"

"After the mission, a girl called Lucia appeared." I grimace as I remember the events of not even an hour ago. "So I was wondering, is this the person that the Singapore Branch sent over to verify my identity?" Actually, now that I think about it. She kept saying 'Azrail'. Is it possible that that is a name? My name?

"If she is, then she hasn't reported to me yet. I'll make sure to call for her and see if she is the representative. For now though, you should probably make a start on your mission report." My eyes widen. I'd forgotten all about the fact that I need to produce mission reports for every mission I go on with Robin, starting with this one. "I'll be looking forward to it." He speaks evilly. Well, it's not as though it is the first mission report I've ever done. I can just copy most of another one and then edit it to suit this mission… No, this is all so that Robin can remain as a God Eater. I should do it properly.

Five gruelling hours later, I manage to complete a report that I think captures how well I believe Robin performed. I included all the parts where she helped me and made sure to draw attention to the fact that it was Robin who thought of the plan that ultimately brought down the Garuda. Speaking of Robin, I wonder if she has already been asked to see the Director yet. Oh well, I'll hand this in and then get to sleep.

I leave my room and head back up to the Director's office. I open the door and completely disregard the fact that Lucia and the director were in the middle of a conversation as I hand him the report and immediately head back to my room. Upon arriving, I flop onto the bed and fall asleep within minutes.

I grumble as I hear several loud noises. At first, I think of these as being knocks on my door, but when I listen closely, I can hear the scraping of metal on metal. I attempt to rub my eyes but find myself unable to move my hands. Immediately, worry consumes me as I know I've been in a similar situation before. I remember the dream I had a while ago where two shadow figures entered the room while I was bound to a wall. Now, upon opening my eyes, I see darkness but not only that. The room has a few candles scattered around the floor. Moving my head, I look at each of them and see that they surround me in a circle. As I become more familiar with my surroundings, the more things I notice. The candles do not give out the same light as regular candles. Instead, they give out an eerie blue light. Connecting each of these lights, are strange blue markings along the floor that make a star, with me being in the centre of it. Also present are numerous strange liquids in vials as well as some strange plants with white flowers.

Suddenly, I hear multiple voices and quickly look around. Many figures clad in black robes that cover their faces as well gather closer towards the circle, and me. The voices all appear to be speaking in synchronicity and it is only when I see a 3-metre large figure materialise from a black and blue mist that I begin to panic. From somewhere, I hear musical instruments.

"I" The figure speaks in a very deep, male voice despite the effeminate appearance. The man appears gentle, but can't possibly be with such a deep voice. "… am…" Wait a minute. This seems like… is this a ritual? I quickly look over all of the things I had noticed again. It is a ritual! It's the only possibility and I'm… the sacrifice?

"NO! NO! I DON'T WANT THIS! I SHOULDN'T BE SACRIFICED! I WANT TO LIVE!" I wail but nobody listens.

"Paimon." The man finishes, and the musical instruments stop. I continue to wail. Surely now that the chanting has stopped, they can hear me. "I require a sacrifice." He hisses, and I feel my heart painfully constrict in my chest. "Then, I will give you what you want."

"There's your sacrifice!" I hear a druid shout and can feel them pointing at me.

"You're all monsters!" I shout and don't even attempt to hide the tears that fall down my face. I can't even curl myself up into a ball as my legs are bound as well. Regretfully, I open my eyes, only to come face to face with the demon in front of me. I open my mouth to scream but feel nothing come out. That's when I feel a sharp claw through my gut.

"AAAHHH!" I shoot up from my bed screaming but suddenly feel someone's hands over my mouth and push me down onto the bed. I bite the hand and it pulls away quickly.

"Ow! Jackal!" The familiar voice of my best friend shouts in pain. Immediately, I realise that Robin is with me, meaning that I had bitten Robin.

"Robin! Are you okay?" I ask with worry lacing my voice, moving to switch on the light before rushing to her side.

"Yeah." She shakes her hand a few times. I sigh and use my arm to wipe the sleep from my eyes, only to realise that they were wet. I turn away from her and wipe them properly. "But are you okay?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" I ask, walking into another part of the room to give myself an excuse not to face her.

"I heard you talking in your sleep… You weren't just mumbling either. You were loud. I had no choice but to check on you." She says kindly, but worriedly. The tone of her voice makes me think that we're going to be here for a while…


	20. Chapter 20

Alpha and Omega - Jackal's Story

Chapter 20

In collaboration with Subzero Dragon. Visit their profile to see the other side of this story.

I turned to Robin where a smile meets me. A reassuring smile. However, I turn back to face away from her. If I were to face her, then there's no doubt that I would spill. Robin's just that type of person. Trustworthy, reliable, kind, caring, all of those. So, it would just be a matter of when I would spill the beans about what happened. Honestly though, I don't want to relive it.

"I… It's nothing," I pause for a second to think about my next words, "Nothing to worry about."

"That was a very dramatic nothing." I hear her reply, almost sarcastically. Knowing Robin though, she just wants the best for me. Maybe I can tell her. It was just a nightmare after all, right?

"Just a nightmare, it was just a nightmare…" I turn around to see her response. Hopefully she will just leave if I flash her a smile. "I'm okay." I watch her response again. I can instantly tell that she's not buying it. What am I saying? Of course Robin won't buy it. She knows me inside and out. "You're lucky you are who you are." I mumble to myself about Robin. If it were anyone else, I don't think I could share what happened. "Oh, who am I kidding?" Clearly not her, "Truth is, I'm not okay." I flop onto the couch; my legs feeling weak because of everything. That nightmare terrified me. I was using my energy reserves to stay on my feet earlier as well as to reassure Robin that everything was okay. But that didn't work. Speaking of, I feel her put a hand on my shoulder and sit beside me.

"Want to talk about it?" She asks softly. I honestly don't know if I want to or not. I never imagined that I would need comforting like this. Before today, I would have thought that I'd be comforting her. Y'know, the first mission back being against a Garuda and, with her plan, we managed to defeat it.

"Yes…" I did, but I didn't know how to explain what it was. "No… I'm sorry, yes. Bear with me for a sec." I rest my head on my hands, trying to regain my composure as well as thinking about how to explain the nightmare. Was it honestly just a nightmare though? From what I can remember, I've never been interested in anything like rituals and cults. Nor have I heard about them or saw them being performed. So why would I suddenly dream about it? I guess I had better prepare Robin for such a weird nightmare. "It's kind of a strange one though." I look at her as I speak, not bothering to keep up the façade that she's already seen through. Also though, if I see any ounce of fear, I'm stopping. I don't want her to have a similar nightmare.

"I don't mind if you don't mind." She says so simply that I wonder if she's been in a similar situation. "I just thought it would be good to get it off your chest." She's right about that. I hand my head, not bearing to look at her. I can trust her, but sometimes, it's the closest of friends that can hurt you without knowing it. Even just a humoured smile may be enough for me to not trust her with this, despite the fact that I really should.

"In my dream," I begin with a sigh, "I was going to be sacrificed to a demon."

"That sounds terrible! At least it was only a dream." She speaks caringly, but my eyes widen at her words.

"I'm not sure it was just a dream, Robin. I don't remember anything about my past, so how can I be sure?"

"Demonic sacrifices aren't real," She begins reassuringly, "Even if you did get sacrificed to a demon, you wouldn't be here now, right?" She asks a logical question. I subconsciously rub my stomach. The pain of the demon shoving its claws through my stomach felt so real. However, I realise that there are no marks on my stomach of something like that ever happening. I let out a laugh and stop rubbing my stomach.

"Pretty dumb, huh? You're right. It's nonsense." I turn to Robin, "Sorry for waking you up for something like that."

"Jackal, I don't think it's dumb at all." She gives me a grin, "I kind of envy you actually." Her words surprise me greatly. I don't possibly understand how I can be envied.

"Why do you envy me? At least you have a past to remember…" I trail off. Her history isn't exactly glorious. Maybe that's why she hesitates.

"I think I told you about my past, right? About how my hometown was destroyed by Aragami?" It sounded more like a question that asked if I remembered her saying about her past. I nod to signal that I remember. "Sometimes I wonder if I would be better off forgetting about all of that. And yet I also feel like a traitor for thinking like that. I have plenty of fond memories of Ryukyu, don't get me wrong. It's just that I…" She trails off. It's clear to see that bringing up memories of the past is the cause for it. I do know what she is trying to say though, it'll be better to stop her from continuing.

"Don't say that." I shake my head, "Having some memories is better than having none at all." I envy her for having memories, even if they are bad. Who knows, I could have a family somewhere; a mother, father, siblings…

"Maybe you're right." She leans into the couch with a heavy sigh, "But I don't think I can let go just yet… it still hurts."

"When will it not hurt?" I ask her, knowing everything that she's lost. "You lost your family, your home, and your boyfriend too. If it doesn't hurt, that's when you worry." I learned almost everything from the resonance we had back in the infirmary a while ago. I see Robin stare at me incredulously for a second or so before she continues.

"When I lost everything, I was absolutely crushed. I was so sure I wouldn't open up to anyone again. But when I'm with you, I feel like I can be the person I once was. That makes me happy. I have no idea what happened to you in the past. So, I want to help you become happier too. One step at a time." I'm not sure when, but sometime during her speech, I noticed I had a smile on my face. A real one.

"Thanks, Robin. I'll be counting on you." I tell her with a smile. After that, none of us talked for a while. A silence looming over us. It wasn't an awkward silence though. I close my eyes and lean back into the couch. I notice that Robin sits up as soon as I lean back and open an eye to see what she is doing. It is the middle of the night, after all. I wouldn't be surprised if she did want to leave. I go to speak, to tell her she can leave, but she speaks first.

"I have to tell you something." She speaks with a hint of nervousness. I sit up.

"What is it?" I ask. I'm not sure exactly what brought about this change of tempo. Maybe it has something to do with her past? She fidgets with a strand of her. She's definitely nervous, but I must say that she seems pretty cute while being so.

"We're friends, right?" She catches my eye and asks a strange question. Surely, she already knows the answer.

"Of course we are! Where'd that come from all of a sudden?"

"Do…" She begins nervously. She brings a hand to her chest in an attempt to calm her erratic breathing, and her shaking. "I really like you. Do you want to… be a couple?" She blurts, her face as red as a tomato. Did I just hear her right? She wants to be a couple? My heart begins beating faster and blood starts rushing to my head.

"Is that why you've been flighty lately?" I ask her. She doesn't respond though, instead looking down to the ground. She thinks I rejected her? I'll prove her wrong. "I thought you'd never ask. Let's do just that." Honestly, I thought I'd be the one to tell her my feelings, but I guess this is a nice surprise.

"I'm so glad! I never thought I'd be this happy again!" Her happiness is infectious. I too feel very happy.

"Maybe that's what we both want. A new history. What say we make that happen?" She doesn't respond with words. Instead, she cuddles into me and starts to giggle. I begin laughing as well. "Well, I guess that means yes, huh?" She hums in response, confirming my question.

We sit and cuddle each other for a while. No words are necessary as we enjoy each other's presence. However, all good things must come to an end. Despite my reluctance, I unhinge myself from her grip. She looks at me in surprise.

"As much as I hate to say it, if you're found in my room at this time of night, then all sorts of things might happen." I tell her logically, a small smile on my face.

"Huh?" I understand her confusion.

"Think about it. We still need to write reports for your missions. The higher ups will already suspect a lot of bias in our reports because we are friends. So, what do you think will happen if we're found out to be a couple? They'll begin to suspect even more bias."

"But we can go on missions with more than just us two." Robin attempts to reason.

"Yes, but only we have to write reports about your performance. The others only have to write a general report about the mission. And, there's still the fact that we need to have some sleep to make sure nothing unexpected happens in our missions." I explain to her, putting her health and safety first. No doubt she will be thinking the same thing for me.

"So, how should we act around each other? Hide our relationship?" She asks me, a bit of sadness in her voice.

"It's either that, or risk you having to ask someone else to produce reports instead of me." I reply to her, moving in for a quick cuddle to reassure her. "But that doesn't mean that we can't do this in private. All we need to do is hide our relationship until you no longer have to produce reports about your missions." I try to convince her.

"You realise that I can just get someone like Alisa to produce the reports. I don't want to hide our relationship. I want to do everything with you, because you never know when it will end." She says sadly, no doubt reflecting on the death of her previous boyfriend. I can't help but feel a little jealous, but I know that nothing much can happen about it. She'll always remember her first love. She reciprocates my hug.

"I think we should ask Alisa about that before we decide for her. She might not be able to do it, after all. But I'm all for the idea of asking someone we trust." She stands up quickly.

"Maybe I can ask her now. If she's awake, she's bound to say yes."

"But if she's asleep, you should wait until morning." I tell her, but she has none of it.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Jackal." She gives me a hug before running out of the room, no doubt about where she is going, and the time she is going at. I look at the digital clock in my room. It reads 02:15. Honestly, despite all of the good news today, I doubt I'll be able to get back to sleep because of that, but I should still try…

I was right. I couldn't get to sleep. The whole idea of being sacrificed to a demon, no matter how ridiculous the idea, is terrifying. It wasn't real, but it sure as hell felt like it was. However, I know that I have Robin to support me. I even accidentally bit her thinking it was something else. She understood why though. Then there's this whole thing with Robin. We're a couple now… I feel too excited to sleep for that, but Sakaki's words from a while ago echo in my mind. Does Robin know anything about my past that she isn't telling me?

"She couldn't possibly…" I speak aloud as I lie on my bed, comfortable under the blanket although I would prefer the warmth of Robin. I trust her with my life, I doubt that she knows anything. Take Lucia for example. Robin seemed just as surprised as me to see her. I should ask Soma about her. Hopefully he can tell me something. She kept shouting 'Azrail', whatever that is. Maybe it's some sort of greeting in her branch. That's assuming that she's the representative of the Singaporean Branch. Whatever it is, I'll probably run into her soon. I can ask her then.

I sit up from my bed and complete my morning routines. The clock reads 07:30. I wonder if Robin was able to sleep last night. Robin… I feel butterflies in my stomach. I really hope that Robin succeeded in convincing Alisa to take over as the person who needs to compile more specific reports on Robin. Then, we can openly be a couple. Although, I don't have any idea how to act like a couple. Well, I guess Robin and I can learn together. With this in mind, I walk out of my room to start the new work day.

Surprisingly, as I finish eating my breakfast, I continue to see no signs of Robin. I thought that she, like me, wouldn't be able to sleep.

"She must have tired herself out." I whisper to myself, trying to guess why she isn't here. I guess she needs a good rest after yesterday's mission. Her first mission back was against a difficult opponent. It wouldn't surprise me to hear that she's still asleep because of that.

"Jackal." I raise my head at the sound of my Captain's irritated voice. She shares the same look as her voice expresses. "Just the person I wanted to see."

"Alisa? Is something up?" I ask as I clear away my plates. I turn around and audibly gulp at what I see. Alisa has her arms folded across her chest with a stern look on her face. I don't think I've ever saw her look scarier.

"Grab your Arc. We're going hunting." She commands, and I almost run out of the cafeteria to retrieve them.

"So, what's this all about, Alisa?" I ask her from inside of the helicopter. It is only the two of us on this mission, it seems like, as only us two occupy the helicopter, apart from the pilot. She must have some sort of business with me to drag me out on a mission by ourselves.

"Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused?" She replies sternly, but I have no idea what she is talking about. As far as I know, I haven't caused any trouble.

"Huh?" I express my confusion. She sighs heavily, keeping her stern look as she speaks.

"I managed to squeeze some answers out of Lucia. It would have been a lot easier to do had you not smashed her against a wall! What were you thinking?!" Oh, so her attitude was about that.

"Come on, Alisa. If some stranger suddenly grabbed onto you from behind and wouldn't get off, what would you do? You'd try and get the off, right?" I realise as I say it that that sounded a lot creepier than I actually thought, but she knows what happened yesterday, so hopefully she doesn't take it the wrong way.

"Lucia isn't a stranger!"

"She is to me." I reply with the same calmness I've had since this discussion; almost none, but enough to not shout. "Think about it, I only met her yesterday. Of course, she's a stranger."

"That's not what Lucia tells me." Alisa responds, crossing her arms across her chest and shutting up. She chooses to end this discussion at the wrong moment, so I try to press it.

"What did she tell you? Something about me?" It takes a few more attempts of pressing the same question in different ways before she finally gives in.

"I guess you have a right to know." She says with a sigh, "Lucia is a representative of the Singaporean Branch." She confirms what I already had I mind. "She tells me that, while you're not a part of that branch, you did visit there quite often and you two got acquainted." So, according to the girl herself, Lucia and I were acquaintances at the Singapore Branch? It sounds like I'm going to have to talk to Lucia more to get the answers _I_ want.

"Did she say anything else about me?" I ask Alisa, just to confirm that what she has told me was everything Lucia told her.

"Lost your interest in Robin already?" Alisa smiles devilishly. I know that she is joking, but it still sends a pang though my heart.

"I'm guessing Robin already asked you then?" Wait a minute, if Robin did ask Alisa last night, then she was awake when Robin asked; so why is Alisa awake now? Did she not sleep last night? I lean forward in my chair and take a closer look at Alisa's face; she moves backwards, not knowing what I was doing. However, when she did so, she dropped her stern look, and her face relaxes into one of exhaustion. I knew it.

"Captain," She visibly grimaces as I speak her rank, "you haven't been getting any sleep, have you?" Having been found out, Alisa no longer reclines in her seat to get away from my scrutinising gaze. She knows that the jig is up, and drops her stern face, showing how her eyes droop as though they haven't rested in days. "Do you have that much work to do?" I begin to feel guilty about Robin asking her if she can produce reports on Robin instead of me; and she knows it.

"Oh, no. no, no." She tries to deny, but her fatigued face is all I need to see to know that she's lying. "I get enough sleep."

"No, you don't." I say simply. I know that Alisa doesn't want this topic to continue, but maybe there's a way that she can sleep and complete the mission… "So, what Aragami are we against this time?"

"Just a couple of Kongou. It should be an easy mission." She answers me, sounding relieved that I had dropped the topic about her lack of sleep; but I haven't. I smile,

"Good. Then you can go to sleep in here while I take care of them."

"What? You can't do that? You're still a rookie." She tries to reason.

"Alisa," I address her with her name instead of rank, she grimaced earlier when I used her rank, so she mustn't be used to me using it for her. "let's not forget that I had to singlehandedly hold off a multiple-cored Ouroboros for a while before backup arrived." I remind her of my abilities, "And honestly, with you in this condition," I gesture to her, "I'll have to be more vigilant of making sure you don't get hurt than my own safety." I give my own reasons that compete against hers.

"I guess I would be in the way…" She gives in. "But I won't go to sleep while you're out there fighting against two Aragami. I can just provide your backup." Reluctantly, I accept that that's the best I'm going to get out of her and accept her terms.

The mission went flawlessly. Alisa gave me backup from a distance while I melee attacked each Kongou individually. We completed the mission easily, and headed back to the Den. As I walk through the Den, I see Robin walk into the cafeteria. I catch the smile on her face just before she walks through the door. I decide to follow her into the cafeteria; not to eat, but to tell her about Alisa, and what Alisa told me.

"Robin," I speak as I sit across from her on the table. She smiles at me and goes to greet me, but I continue speaking, "I don't think Alisa will be able to do those reports." Robin's smile deflates, knowing instantly what reports I'm talking about.

"Why?" She knows what this means. If Alisa can't do the reports, we'll either have to find someone else to do them, or I'll have to continue doing them, hiding our relationship in the meantime.

"Alisa was awake when you went to see her, right?" I wait for her to nod her head before I continue, "We've just been on a mission and it looks as though she hasn't gotten any sleep in days. Clearly, she's already very busy; we can't force this onto her too." I tell her with a sad smile. It leaves as her face drops to a sad one. She knows that the only other people in our unit that we can ask is Kota and Soma. The latter of the which is out of the question and the former doesn't seem as though they're capable of producing a report. "I can try asking Kota, but I wouldn't be too hopeful." I tell her, to which she seems to brighten up a bit. Yet, she doesn't speak. She must be too busy thinking to herself. For both of our sakes, I hope that Kota can do these reports. I leave Robin to her breakfast, so I can try to find Kota. My best bet would be to ask Hibari if he's on a mission yet.

After asking Hibari, and finding out that Kota should still be in the Den, I head to Kota's room. It's quite late in the morning, so he should be awake. I knock on his door a few times,

"Kota? You in there?" I ask, raising my voice slightly so he can hear it from the other side of the door. It doesn't take long before he opens it.

"Hey, Jackal, what's up?" He greets me in his usual, friendly way. I smile at this.

"Hey, would you mind doing me a favour?" His face turns into one of intrigue and confusion. "This will probably be easier to talk about inside." I comment. It takes a few seconds before Kota realises what I want.

"Oh. Sure, man." He moves out of the way of the door and I step inside. He moves over to his couch while I close the door behind me. I take notice of his room before walking over to the couch he's on. I instantly notice that he was watching something on the TV. He notices me glancing at it.

"You watch Bugarally?" He asks me in excitement. I have a feeling that I'm going to be here a while, but at least I'll have a chance to know my teammate better…


	21. Chapter 21

Alpha and Omega - Jackal's Story

Chapter 21

In collaboration with Subzero Dragon. Visit their profile to see the other side of this story.

"I don't really watch things like that." As a matter of fact, I don't watch a lot of things on television. There's never enough time to do so. If I do have time, it's usually spent training or sleeping. I should probably find a hobby; something I can do while I'm not sleeping or training. What did I do before my amnesia? Was I a hands-on kind of guy that would fiddle around with machinery? Or was I just lazy? Well, it's likely that I'm not going to remember anything like that. I should just find a new hobby.

"Trust me, you're going to love this!" Kota's smile never fades. He didn't seem very energetic when we were talking at the door, but he seems very energetic now. Kota must really like this program. I don't see the appeal of it though. "Take a seat." He gestures happily to the couch in front of the TV and I sit on it. Kota parks himself right next to me, his eyes glued on the television. I also look at the TV. From what I can tell, this seems to be some kind of action anime. One of the characters, dressed in red, has some sort of robotic suit that only covers about 40% of his body. The rest of his body has no armour at all.

"So who's this guy?" I ask Kota, only to make it seem as though I am interested in the program.

"That's the main character. His name is-" At this point, I decide to tune him out and just watch the program for myself. I've did my job, he thinks I'm interested in the program. Of course, I'll still watch it with him. I'll consider this payment for completing the favour I will ask him for soon.

Two hours later…

"Go on, Aeneas! Beat that guy up!" The character stated propels himself up into the air with a fantastic leap. His posture makes him look experienced in battle. As he jumps, he swiftly cuts through the airborne, bat-like enemies before his attention turns to the antagonist; Vikander. The bad guy sees Aeneas' attack though, and easily dodges it, mocking the protagonist in the process.

"I knew that would happen!" Kota shouts, on the edge of his seat. We're both so close to the edge that if I got any more excited, I would fall off of the couch. Vikander springs towards the red-clad protagonist; his face suggesting that this fight is all too easy for him. Instead of dodging the attack, Aeneas takes it head on. His decision shocks me, but I can understand it. It is a television show after all, it needs to entertain people and it is certainly doing that. However, before the two can collide, the screen freezes and the words "To be continued" appears on the screen.

"Ah." I utter in a depressed voice and shrink into my seat. "Are you putting the next one on?" I ask with hope lacing my voice. It's what he did for the when the past few episodes had finished.

"Unfortunately not." He slumps as he speaks, "I need to download the next season before we can watch it." A second of silence passes and I feel myself becoming more deflated. "But hey," Kota suddenly becomes cheery again, "I can let you borrow a season or two. You can watch them from the start rather than half way through the tenth season."

"There are that many seasons?" My eyes go wide. It would give me a chance to watch them all from the beginning. I'll be able to connect with the characters; learn more about them and learn their motivations. "Yeah, will you let me borrow a couple of seasons?"

"Yeah, dude. No problem." He smiles back at me as he leaves the couch and goes to his terminal. I see him pull out some sort of device from his terminal and he gives it to me. He sees the confusion on my face and speaks up. "This is a device they used in the past to store things on so you can carry them around with you. It's called a USB or something. There's five seasons of Bugarally stored on it. There's also a few seasons of other television shows." He hands it out to me.

"Thanks. I'll make sure to watch them." I give him my thanks, taking the device from his hand and making my way out of his room.

"Tell me as soon as you've finished them. We'll be sure to talk about it!" He shouts his last sentence as I walk though the door. He must be excited to talk to someone that shares his interest.

"Of course." I inform him with a smile and a wave as I head back to my room. I'll need to put it in my room so that I don't lose it. I can't believe that Kota's let me borrow something so prehistoric. How much money must it be worth? I walk into my room and place the device into my terminal. As soon as I do so, there is another option on my terminal that I can select. "Kota's USB" is what it's called. I click onto it and see a few files. One of which is Bugarally while the others are ones that I've never heard of. One of the files is called "Saiki Kusuo". Such a weird name… I wonder what it's about.

One hour later.

Apparently, the anime called "Saiki Kusuo" is about a teenager who has numerous super powers. However, he doesn't want people to know about his super powers. That's what I don't understand. Surely, you'd want people to know about your super powers. Imagine what you could do.

"Jackal! Mission time!" Kota knocks on the door. I didn't realise we had a mission. Kota must have arranged one for the two of us.

"Come on, Jackal. We're waiting for you!" Robin speaks up too. I guess that makes three of us then.

"What are you doing in there?" Alisa speaks up before I see the door open. Alisa comes storming in, Kota and Robin come walking in after. "What are you doing by your terminal?" Alisa suddenly asks. I look at Kota to see his reaction. I don't know whether Alisa knows about Kota having a USB stick with a lot of anime on it. Kota gives no response. I guess he won't be of any help at all. "Didn't you get my email?" Alisa speaks with a less than impressed voice. I open my emails, closing the fifth episode of Saiki Kusuo and realise that she did send me an email. I open it up.

 _Mission time in half an hour._

 _We'll be against two Borg Camlanns. Make sure you're prepared. Meet us on the roof._

A short email, but it gets the point across. I guess Alisa did give me a warning about the mission. Two Borg Camlanns? I'm not really equipped for that. I will do a standard amount of damage, but it would be a lot easier to deal with them if my attacks did a lot more damage. There's no time to change it now though. Wait, there's something else included in the email.

 _P.S. Congratulations!_

I have no idea what she means by that, and I guess I won't until I ask Alisa. Now isn't the time though. I look back to the group. Alisa isn't impressed at my cluelessness. Kota seems just like me; clueless; probably not for the same reason though. Robin just looks towards me; not saying anything. Her demeanour makes it seem as though something is wrong. Is it because they've been waiting for me on the roof and I never turned up? I'd understand having the silent treatment or something like that for a while, but she seems upset.

"I was just double checking I had everything." I comment before switching off the terminal. "I just need to pick up my Arc and then I'm all set." I give them a smile.

"It's already on the helicopter. Come on, Jackal! If we don't hurry up, the Aragami will have moved!" Alisa stomps her foot as she expresses her impatience with a frown on her face. She turns around and I follow her out of the room. Kota and Robin make way for Alisa to take the lead before following her. I follow behind them. Not one of them says a word until we're on the roof.

"So what were you doing on your terminal?" Kota slows his pace down before he asks me. The two girls of the group had walked further ahead, not slowing their pace. I notice Robin turn her head to us. Probably wondering why Kota slowed down. She turns her head back as Alisa begins talking to her, but not before I catch the same sadness in her eyes. I'll have to talk to her about that.

"Watching anime. Isn't is obvious?"

"I thought as much." He places his arms behind his head. I can hear the smile in his voice. "Was it Bugarally?"

"No, actually." I can feel Kota's stare as we meet the girls at the helicopter. "It was Saiki Kusuo."

"I didn't realise that one was on there. I haven't watched it yet." He speaks, looking up at the sky. He must be thinking about how he will watch it. "Don't give me any spoilers! Wait until I've watched it!" He quickly says, all attention on me.

"What are you talking about?" Alisa smacks Kota's head. I noticed this a while ago, but she really likes hitting him.

"Ow! Do you have to hit me every time?" He rubs his head in pain. I'm glad I'm not on the receiving end of Alisa's fist. She hasn't hit me though. Maybe she doesn't feel like we're good enough friends for physical abuse. Not that I mind; it means I can avoid being hit. I do feel sorry for Kota though. Alisa gets on the helicopter, then Robin.

"She does this all the time, man." Kota rubs his head before getting on the helicopter. I follow him onto it and sit down in the only available seat, next to Alisa. I guess Kota just didn't want to risk getting hit again but now I can't talk to Robin. She still looks quite sad. Has nobody else noticed yet? Surely Alisa should; she's our captain. Isn't it the captain's responsibility to check everyone's welfare? Has she not noticed that Robin seems depressed? I look towards Alisa. She's staring out of the window! Really? With a sigh, I think about asking Robin myself. I would have done so earlier but I was scared in case it was something she couldn't tell Alisa and Kota about. That is still a possibility. If that's the case, then I'd better not ask her yet. I'm sure we'll have time after the mission, I'll ask her then; and given the seating arrangements, I wouldn't be able to ask her now even if I wanted to.

"What's the plan then?" I turn my head to Alisa as I ask and see her already in thinking mode.

"Kota should definitely back us up since he can't change God Arc forms." She begins, telling us what I'm sure we already knew.

"That makes sense." Robin speaks up with an acknowledging tone. She probably only spoke up so that Alisa wouldn't feel weird for pointing out the obvious.

"Hmm… None of us have crushing weapons, so we can't just use guerrilla warfare. The best chance we have is to take them out one at a time; making sure to stun them a lot and make them stumble." Alisa theorises.

"That way we can avoid getting hit." Kota finishes for Alisa.

"Where should we aim for though?" Robin asks a question that Alisa failed to address in her plan.

"To make them stumble, we should aim for the front legs but maybe we should aim for the tail first. That's definitely the most dangerous part of Borg Camlanns. Without their tails, they should be pretty easy to beat."

"So we stun them and make them stumble, then we aim for the tails?" I simplify Alisa's plan and am met with a smile and a nod of the head from Alisa. Instantly, silence takes over in the helicopter. It's not an uncomfortable silence though, we're all just preparing for the upcoming battle.

"Okay guys, we've got to stick together." Alisa comments, leading the pack through the complexities of the Sunken Grid. It should be pretty easy to separate the Borg Camlanns here if we need to. Plus, these Aragami don't have particularly good hearing so there's only a small risk of the other Borg Camlann hearing us while we destroy one of them. Robin and Kota follow behind her leaving me to be the last person in this diamond shape formation. Alisa said that me being last was to avoid any sneak attacks on Kota, our long-range attacker. Not that I was against being the last one in the formation, it means I can see where all of my team is at the same time. That's a big advantage. "Shhh" Alisa puts a finger to her lips as she says this before signalling us to halt as there is something around the corner. Alisa pokes her head around the corner. She holds her index and middle finger up in the air.

"Two of them." I whisper to myself. We're going to need to find a way to split them up.

"Any ideas then?" Robin enquires with a whisper.

"We could try shooting some bullets to make noise further up." I suggest but Robin quickly shoots the idea down.

"Then both of them would follow the sound. We could try shooting one of them with a very small bullet so the blast radius would only hit one of them." Robin suggests instead.

"Unless the bullet is very weak, it will cry out at the surprise attack. If it is weak though, it might not feel it. I think we should just settle here until one of them leaves." Alisa refutes Robin's idea in favour of her own.

"It might work. We don't know how long they'll be here though." Kota points out a flaw in her plan.

"It's the safest option. We'll wait it out." It looks like Alisa's chosen our course of action. "We're in no hurry, after all."

"Phew. One more left." I wipe the sweat from my forehead with my arm. The Borg Camlann that lies defeated before us had given us more than a run for our money. Even while we had all four of us ganging up against it. It felt a lot stronger than other Borg Camlanns. It took a solid five minutes to defeat it. We'd usually be able to defeat it a lot quicker. Five minutes is about the same amount of time you'd expect one person to defeat it. It even had a new attack; instead of spinning its tail around one, it did it multiple times. Regardless, now it's time to kill the other one.

"I'm picking up multiple Kongou energy signatures in your area." Hibari communicates to us in her business-like tone.

"What about the Borg Camlann?" I ask her. We'll definitely be able to handle a few Kongous but we won't want that Borg Camlann to get away.

"I'm not picking it up on any of the scanners. It must be long gone by now." I grumble at Hibari's response.

"How close are they, Hibari?" Alisa focuses us on the new task.

"They'll be there any second now!" With Hibari's words, I restock on my Oracle Points, preparing to fire a few bullets at the Kongous before I charge in with my scythe. "They're a lot faster than other Kongou!" Just a few seconds after she said that, the three Kongous enter our line of sight. Or rather, they leap into it; jumping down from the large abandoned power grid building in the middle of the area. The ground shakes as they land, and without even a second to think, they start attacking. I narrowly avoid an intense ball of wind being shot in my direction.

"Kota! Fall back and attack from afar!" Alisa commands while fighting one of the Kongous. Robin takes another one while I take the last one. I assume Alisa wants Kota to help with all of the Kongous.

"You got it!" He starts running towards a ledge but my Kongou jumps into the way.

"Keep going!" I shout as he passes the Kongou, evading a swinging arm attack that was heading towards him. I launch a couple of mortars into its face before switching to my Scythe, slashing an arm that it swings at me. Suddenly, the Kongou tenses before shaking its body slightly. I deploy my shield, unsure exactly of what it's doing.

"Gah!" I'm lucky to have deployed my shield in time as three intense, large balls of wind force me back at least ten metres. I drop my shield and go to run at the Kongou only for it to roll towards me at an abnormal speed. I only just manage to dodge by jumping to the ground. I don't have time to lie around though as the beast heads towards me for round two. I avoid this rolling attack easily by leaping to the side. Strangely though, the beast stops only one metre away from me. I instantly go on the attack; slashing at its tail numerous times until it becomes unbound.

"I'm detecting two more Aragami in the area. ETA 5 minutes." Hibari announces and I fight the urge to swear.

"Where are they all coming from?!" I speak instead in an exhausted tone. "And how do they know we're here?!" I sweep the Kongou off of its feet and plunge my scythe right into its chest; destroying its core in one massive swing. I don't let myself rest though as I run towards the Kongou that Robin is battling.

"We're going to need to retreat! There's too much for just the four of us!" Kota shouts in a fearful tone although he doesn't let up on the shooting. One of his bullets narrowly misses Robin and hits the Kongou. It's clear that he's beginning to panic.

"Hibari! Send a helicopter!" Alisa shouts through her earpiece and microphone, agreeing with Kota to make a tactical retreat.

"I've already sent one out. It should be there in 15 minutes."

"15 minutes?!" A weary Robin shouts as she finishes off her Kongou with a blow to the face. I let Robin extract its core as I rush to help Alisa. Before I get there though, she has already delivered her finishing attack and is extracting the beast's core.

"That means we're going to need to fight these next two Aragami before we can escape. Let's just hope that no more will come after us." Alisa confirms our next steps. "We've got a few minutes to rest. Heal up and don't let your guard down." I take the opportunity to take a couple of restore pills and feel myself gaining more energy as I do so. "Hibari, what are the two additional energy signatures?"

"There's one large energy signature and one small energy signature. The smaller one is probably an Ogretail. I don't know what the larger one is. Be cautious."

"Thanks, Hibari. How far away is the helicopter?" Alisa enquires impatiently.

"Still about 15 minutes away. Maybe you should ask again after you've defeated these two Aragami. They should be there very soon. They're coming from the same direction that the Kongous came from." Hibari informs us and the four of us take our stances; Kota running to a ledge a reasonable distance from us to provide backup.

One minute later, we see the Aragami heading towards us. It has a brown colouration as well as a couple of missile pods. This isn't going to be an easy fight but with the four of us attacking it, it should be pretty easy. The small Aragami can be easily dealt with which just leaves this Quadriga as our final target for the day. I feel pretty good about this. Smiling, I turn towards Robin,

"We've got this!"

"Y-Yeah…" She continues staring towards the beast that is yet to see us.

"It shouldn't be a problem. I'm glad it isn't anything more difficult like a Garuda or something." Alisa smiles as she speaks, stretching her shoulders as well, the two of us being very confident in this fight.

"Mhm." An unenthusiastic response from Robin brings my attention back to her.

"You okay, Robin. You don't seem very confident." I walk closer towards her. At my words, Alisa turns her head towards us.

"Is something up?" Kota speaks through our earpieces.

"Robin?" I place a hand on her shoulder. She suddenly stiffens.

"Guys, it's heading towards you!" Kota shouts and I look towards where we last saw the Quadriga. I'm confident that we can beat it but I want to know why Robin looks as though she's seen a ghost. I feel my hand leave her shoulder but I'm not the one to remove it.

"Hey, Robin!" I shout as the girl sprints away from the battle. "What are you doing?!"

"Huh?" Alisa's just as surprised as me about Robin suddenly running away from the fight. "Kota, go after her!" She locks eyes with Kota as she speaks who I assume gives her a nod or some sort of signal telling her that he's going to comply.

"Why him?!" I don't like that decision. Robin is mine. I should be the one to look after her. I should be the one to support her during her hardships.

"I can't handle a Quadriga by myself. We need at least two melee attackers." Alisa reasons before steeling herself for the battle. Reluctantly, I prepare myself as well. I take a deep breath to temporarily clear my mind of Robin before advancing forward; sprinting at the beast that has just deployed several missiles. They're easy to dodge with a single leap upwards and the two of us continue charging towards the beast. As we approach it, I realise that we don't have a plan.

"We need to stop it from launching missiles. We should target the pods on its back and the front armour." I tell Alisa before running between the Aragami's front legs and landing a good few swings on the beast.

"Don't be so reckless!" Alisa shouts in a worried voice and I immediately retreat. It wouldn't do any good to get injured while under the Quadriga, especially since it is known for charging towards enemies. "We'll get the missile pods first." She speaks as she jumps up to one of the and lands a powerful swing. Instead of following suit, I change my Arc to Gun Form and fire several mortars at the one that Alisa isn't targeting. I see the Aragami's legs bending and quickly give a warning to Alisa.

"It's jumping!" It would kill us instantly if we were under the monster while it jumped. No shield could save somebody from the force of gravity. I'm glad I moved when I did. I judge it's effective radius and wait just outside of it, preparing my God Arc to devour part of the Aragami. When it lands, it hits nobody. The shockwave of its force against the earth isn't enough to take me off of my feet as plunge my Arc into the Quadriga's leg. I backstep straight after doing so and aim my Arc at Alisa, firing the Aragami bullet towards her Arc and giving her a temporary burst of power. I switch back to Melee Form and unload a barrage of slashing and sweeping attacks at the beast's leg.

"Fire wall!" Alisa shouts and I'm forced to retreat further back and only just avoid a torrent of fire swirling around the beast. Since the two of us are on different sides of the monster, the large missile it fires ahead of it misses us. Thankfully, the barrage of attacks on its leg has filled my OP meter again which I use to fire at the missile pod I previously targeted. It breaks after the last mortar hits it and the Aragami roars in pain. I give it little time to recover as I repeatedly hack away at the exposed area.

It doesn't take much longer to kill it. Alisa was right though. It was easier with the two of us rather than just having the one melee attacker. As soon as it drops, and Alisa removes the core, we run in the same direction that Robin ran in.

"Any idea what would make her run off like that?" She asks through panting.

"None at all but I noticed that something was wrong before the mission. I wonder if the same thing is bugging her but I have no idea what a Quadriga has to do with any of it." I reply through my own panting.

"Guys…" I hear Kota through my earpiece sounding very exhausted, almost as though he's struggling to stay awake. "You'd better come quickly or else we're going to die."

"Don't say things like tha-" Alisa reprimands but in a heavily worried voice, she is interrupted though.

"Tsuchinoko" It only takes one word for the two of us to break into a sprint.

When we arrive on the scene, we notice that Kota's already flat on his stomach; knocked out. Robin appears to be on her last limbs and the Tsuchinoko is about to deliver the finishing blow. We try to run and help her but the Aragami's attack sends her flying into a wall. She doesn't get back up. I go to sprint to her side however Alisa's arm around my waist stops me. Just as I feel like tearing away from her grip, I see an electrical scale being thrown by me. If I had been hit by that directly, it probably would have cut me in half, judging by its velocity.

"She'll be fine. We won't be if you can't focus though." She speaks sharply, getting the message across. I take another deep breath to calm myself. I deploy my shield and Alisa does the same to avoid a barrage of scales being thrown towards us. "We need to make a tactical retreat! Where's that helicopter?!" Alisa shouts. She knows that we only barely escaped with our lives the last time we fought the Tsuchinoko and our God Arcs aren't very effective against it. Robin was able to damage it previously by throwing its own electrical scale at its head. With two of our team members down though, it's probably going to be impossible to kill it.

"We can't risk having the helicopter come and get us. We need to go to it." I inform her. I can perfectly remember what happened the last time I was in a helicopter and the Tsuchinoko was nearby. It ended up crash landing due to it attacking the helicopter. That was also our first meeting with the Aragami. "And we'll need to lose this guy." I continue while holding up my shield and walking towards the beast.

"Carry Robin and Kota away from here." Alisa commands.

"I can't do that. You'll be against that thing by yourself!" I attempt to reason with her. She plans on sacrificing her own welfare for the safety of her team mates. There's no way I can let her go through with that!

"I won't be by myself. You can rush to help me after you've carried them away." She reasons. I'm stuck in a dilemma. I can either comply with Alisa's plan; saving two team mates while leaving one to fend for themselves or I can help Alisa now at the expense of Kota and Robin being subjected to attacks from the Aragami. I grit my teeth in frustration. There's no choice really.

"Damn it!" I grumble before sprinting towards Kota. He'll be the hardest to carry, so I'll need more energy to move him. I work my arms under him and get him onto my shoulders. Thankfully, he's carry his own God Arc and it doesn't look as though his grip will soften and release it. I grunt as I force legs to carry the two of us forward. Nevertheless, I force myself to speed up, my legs almost crumble under the pressure but I continue anyway.

After a few minutes, I manage to get Kota to a safe spot; behind a large rock near an open clearing. I quickly communicate with Hibari that this should be the spot where the pilot lands. She says that she will send the coordinates to the pilot. With that being communicated, I run back to get Robin. I can only hope that Alisa is holding her own against the beast.

I mustn't have hoped hard enough as Alisa can barely manage to stand. She uses her God Arc to keep herself upright. It's not enough though.

"I'm sorry, Robin, Jackal." Alisa manages to speak as she looks towards the monster before falling to the ground in an unmoving heap. I could hear the pain in Alisa's voice but that's not what surprises me. It's the position of the Tsuchinoko that surprises me. It stands one metre away from Robin, hovering over her and ready to deliver a killing strike. I know why Alisa apologised. She failed in protecting Robin. And that makes my blood boil. My teeth grid against each other and I swear I can taste blood. My eyes focus on the Aragami before me and the girl by its feet. Everything else doesn't matter now.

"GRRAAAA!" I speed towards the Aragami, my angered shout makes it aware of my presence and it launches numerous electrical scales. I use my Arc to bat them away with a care and without breaking a sweat. A swing my scythe toward the beast, making sure to curl it away from the semi-conscious girl at my feet. I can hear Robin shuffling around. It's the least of my concerns at the minute; especially since the I can see a clear mark where I've inflicted damage to the beast. It screams in pain and I smile in triumph. It can be defeated!

"HAHAHAHA!" I continue slashing at the monster as it screams, sparks fly from it every time my scythe hits. I hear Hibari through my earpiece but I don't care. I'm having the time of my life! I slash the bastard once more before I see it prepare an attack. I'm ready for it though and deploy my shield. It stops me taking damage from the front but since it's an area of effect attack I take damage from behind. The electricity rises up my leg but they feel like little jolts of static electricity.

"HAHAHAHA! IS THAT ALL YOU'VE GOT?!" I convert my Arc to Gun Form and fire a few mortars at its body. They leave very visible blood marks on the beast and I continue to slash at its chest. The blood pumps through my veins as every hit against the beast feels like I'm in heaven. I feel so good that I completely ignore the fact that the Tsuchinoko is making its move. I feel its sharp jaws clamp down on each of my shoulders. Due to the adrenaline though, it isn't as painful as it should be. In fact, it gives me the opportunity to do this!

"YOU'RE FINISHED!" I shout in utter delight as I break free from its grip on my shoulders and manage to slice the monster down the middle of its two heads. It's blood spurts all over but it doesn't phase me as I strike the same spot again, almost like I'm cutting down a tree. After ten more solid hits, I back off and admire my work. The sickening smile on my face must make me look crazy but I'm thoroughly enjoying this massacre. I don't want it to stop!

"Are you finished? BECAUSE I SURE AS HELL AIN'T!" I charge at the almost lifeless corpse of the monster and hack off each of its appendages. Its head go first and then its tail. Then I keep slashing at its chest until I see something interesting. "Is this your core? I prepare my Arc to bite the core whole. I'll admit that its blue, green and yellow combination is very fascinating, but I'd much rather let my Arc devour it than admire it's prettiness. As soon as I've let my arc devour its core, it stops moving completely. That's when I hear a thud from behind me. I turn around and see a Borg Camlann.

"AH, YOU CALLED IN SOME BACKUP?! WELL HEY, THE MORE THE MERRIER!"


End file.
